Deceptive Appearances
by RandomImagination
Summary: After all this time, the Organization is still hidden in obscurity. So Conan makes a deal. The Black Organization has no idea what they're up against, and it's just the beginning. DCMK crossover.
1. Alliance

**Note:** I have revised this chapter, mostly just to clean up some minor errors and contradictions. The real work comes later, because chapter 2 and 3...well let's just say I can recognize that the introspection is way too long. That said, the direction of this fic is changing a bit, as well as the actual writing. I'm going to revise all the chapters before I get a new one up.

And further, yes contrary to what I originally said, I did abandon this story. For over a year. I'm sorry, please don't kill me! Anyway, this story is now with less exposition and unnecessary, repetitive introspection. That's not to say I'm getting rid of them entirely; I happen to like showing various facets of the characters and explaining their reasoning. It's just that some of it was interrupting the flow of action/dialogue, which I think is less acceptable. Besides, now **I'm back.**

Disclaimer: If I owned either of these, I would be over forty, male, a good artist, and fluent in Japanese. However, none of the above are accurate descriptions of me, so I think it should be obvious that I'm not Gosho Aoyama.

* * *

Days off came rarely Kuroba Kaito, so he made sure to take full advantage of his freedom in order to get some things done. He was leaning towards scouting a particularly tempting gem, that would likely lead to a heist within a month.

After all, there seemed to be a large chance the Tranquil Wave gemstone held Pandora, being faceted enough that you couldn't see the inside clearly and four inches in diameter. Admittedly he'd seen similar chances—or even higher odds—before and they hadn't panned out, but he had to get lucky sooner or later, right?

Right?

That, however, would have to come after the grocery shopping Kaito's mother had demanded he do. Kaito did not want to be around when she was ticked off, nor did he want to be the subject of her ire. Better men than him had shrunken in fear of her wrath, or so he'd been told by family friends doing a poor job of suppressing their laughter at his predicaments.

So off to the grocery store Kaito went, looking over his shoulder as inconspicuously as possible the whole way. His instincts, honed by many a heist, said that someone was watching him. It was his magician's instincts. You had to make your audience see what you wanted, and be aware when they didn't.

Being the observant guy he was—both of Kaito's hobbies cultivated the habit of surveying one's surroundings—Kaito's glances picked up on someone standing to the right of the path, no longer trying to hide. Someone who had brown hair, glasses, and didn't even come up to Kaito's waist. A person whom he'd seen only about a week before, and wasn't particularly eager to meet out of costume. If he hadn't been trying to look impassive, Kaito would have groaned.

_What's Tantei-kun doing in Ekoda? I really don't want to deal with this right now._

_At least I only need to worry if he thinks I'm impersonating him again. Or maybe he'd dismiss me as some freaky look-a-like, if I'm really lucky. And I technically am a freaky look-a-like, but how likely is it that he'll dismiss me? Ah reality, so wonderfully unrealistic. Besides, it'd be funnier the first way; his reaction last time was priceless!_

Kaito then proceeded to walk right past the seven-year-old, trying to ignore the boy's existence even as he half-hoped for some sort of reaction. He was succeeding at being ignored, at least.

"Kaito-niisan, can you show me where the bus stop is? I kind of got lost," spoke a cute little-kid voice in an overly-cheerful tone, making Kaito start. _Or__not._

It took a moment for Kaito to register that yes, the pronunciation had been that of his name rather than a profession.

_Not__good,__not__good!__How__does__he__even__know__my__name?_ Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kaito had to strain just a bit to keep his face blank. After all, it wasn't every day that some little kid—some genius detective—who should _not_ know your name spoke to you so familiarly. It wouldn't have been so alarming, Kaito was sure, if he was someone else, who didn't moonlight as Kaitou Kid, and have that seven-year-old as one of their greatest hounds.

If it wasn't for the fact that Kaito knew perfectly well who was hiding in that tiny form, he would have been insulted by how easily Conan had caught him at all those heists. (He had, of course, been incensed back before he knew any better, but Kaito liked to pretend he hadn't missed something so obvious.) The great phantom thief being outwitted by a seven year old, genius or not, where grown men were left clueless? Of course something was up. (And once again, Kaito didn't think about the period where he'd been flummoxed by the detective.)

A tugging interrupted Kaito's genius plan of not reacting and hoping Kudo went away. The thief didn't even want to think where this confrontation would go, though if it weren't for one name, one little name, he would've been anticipating the fun he was about to have. Thanks to that name and that knowledge, however, Kaito was just praying that the detective's honor would keep him from having too many long-term complications.

Assuming the ensuing interaction went poorly, however, the thief would have to escape less-than-subtly, seeing as a downward glance revealed Tantei-kun pulling on the leg of his pants.

"Hey! Kaito-niisan, are you even listening to me? Can you come and show me where the bus stop is?"

_Poker face. Play innocent, try to get him to drop his clearly existent suspicions and go away. Hope it works, because I don't know what my other options are._

"Calm down kid. Hasn't your mom ever told you not to talk to strangers?"

A thoughtful frown, followed by that same stupid, innocent mask that everyone who didn't know the truth actually seemed to _buy_most of the time, for whatever reason. "My mom's in America. Ran-neechan told me though. But I'm lost, and if I can't find the bus stop then it'll just be worse, ne? Besides, you're not a stranger if I know your name! And anyway, you look just like Shinichi-niisan!"

Kaito sighed, _I__am__so__screwed.__At__least__he__isn__'__t__accusing__me__in__public,__though__it__'__s__probably__only__because__he__has__a__secret__too,__and__wants__to__avoid__the__scrutiny__that__would__come__with__discovering__Kid__'__s__identity._"Fine, come on, kid. Just don't ask a stranger for directions again. It's dangerous. Besides, don't you have a cell phone to call your neechan?"

"Hai!" agreed the boy, with child-like excitement that almost made it hard to believe that the kid was really a seventeen-year-old detective, not in the least because such an act would be thoroughly embarrassing. Conan tugged on Kaito's pants again, leading him towards the bus stop, and Kaito reflected that it almost defied some law of nature, how easily Kudo was able to drop all traces of male pride.

Except for when Kudo went and made it completely obvious that he wasn't really seven, which was usually around the same time he got really troublesome.

Like at heists, where fun as challenges could be, Kaito did not like being cornered or _especially_ spotted before he was ready to drop his disguise. But of course Kudo had to be one of the smartest detectives that showed up to his heists, except for maybe Hakuba. Both of whom were annoyingly competent, especially compared to Nakamori and Mori. And while it was nice to get a challenge from someone who could match his abilities and meet him on the same level, Kudo—formidable detective though he was—was still seeing through his disguise and pushing him into a corner.

Why was this happening? Why did his Still, why did his strongest opponents have to be able to anticipate his actions and match his insanity so easily? Oh yeah, because life wasn't fair. The challenge was great and all, but sometimes Kid just wished Kudo and Hakuba and all the other annoyingly good detectives would go poof. Especially when they were _cornering__him_.

Kaito acquiesced to the midget's prodding and walked in the general direction of the bus stop, but took a roundabout way to the park instead of going there. Hopefully they'd be able to find enough privacy for the…interesting…conversation that would inevitably follow.

Judging the area clear of potential eavesdroppers, Kaito spoke up as they walked through the park: "Okay Tantei-kun, how'd you figure it out and how's this gonna go? We've never met outside the costume, and you know that just as well as I do."

And then the innocent look on "Conan's" face faded into a knowing smirk that most people would agree wasn't an expression that would typically—okay, try _ever__—_be seen on a seven-year-old. "I suppose we haven't," Kudo replied, tilting his head up at an angle that made light reflect off of his glasses, hiding his eyes. "Nice to finally meet you, Kaitou Kid-san."

"Aa. But you're avoiding both questions. Let's start with how you figured it out. Not even Hakuba's managed to find proof, and he's been looking pretty hard." It was a fair question, and Kudo seemed like the type of guy who might be polite enough to grant him one last courtesy before hauling him off to jail. Or trying, anyway.

Kudo needed to avoid scrutiny as well though, so better to wait and see. Besides, any attempts at proving anything would be hilarious, especially if they resulted in Hakuba squawking at being beaten to the punch.

"Our dads." Kaito raised his eyebrows. That was definitely not what he'd expected, especially seeing how Kuroba Toichi had been dead for almost a decade. _Had__it__really__been__that__long?_ Kaito pushed away the thought before he could be distracted from the situation at hand.

As for what Kudo was saying, yeah, he'd read an article about how a certain Kudo Yuusaku had been chasing Kaitou Kid about ten years ago, but how exactly was that proof of his identity?

"You know I met your dad? I didn't realize it till about a month ago, but he was trying to use me to get a challenge to my dad. It actually didn't work, because Ran and I didn't want to ask tousan for help. However, I'd been wondering: if my dad had faced off against Kaitou Kid, then why did his files have so little information on him?"

"Maybe Kid was even more of an enigma back then and nothing more was known? Tousan was pretty good," Kaito suggested in a tone that showed just how proud he was of both his father and his heritage.

"Unlikely. It wasn't even mentioned that heist notes were always written using riddles. I got lucky enough to stumble onto something that proved my dad had some way of corresponding Kaitou Kid. Coupled with your skill in disguise and a conversation with my mom revealing that she'd learned that art under the famous Kuroba Toichi, who had a son my age, it was enough to raise suspicions. Then I looked into it and found that you lived in Ekoda, where most of Kid's heists are, and then I saw your school picture. You brought this on yourself."

Kaito glared mildly in the detective's direction. "And just what part of that suggests that _I_helped you figure this out, hmm? The only thing you mentioned was being good at disguise and looking like you, which I have no control over."

Cue the smirk of Kudo's that said, "I know something you don't," getting even bigger. "Simple. You showed me that we look alike. If it weren't for that, I wouldn't be accusing you right now. Circumstantial evidence wouldn't be enough yet. So you _did_bring this on yourself by impersonating me for the Star of Destiny heist. And by the way, if you ever do that again, especially in front of Ran, I _will_hurt you."

"Dammit! I liked that disguise! Why do the best plans have to backfire?" Come to think of it, Kaito realized he probably should have argued more. Of course the chances of a third person that looked _that_ similar to the two of them were small, but really?

Too late, and Kaito was not going to take the opportunity to delve into the psychology of why he would do something as insane as practically confessing when he had an alibi for several heists, as Hakuba could confirm. Not that those incidents were likely to get him off the hook. If Hakuba was still suspicious, there was no reason Kudo wouldn't be.

And now Kaito had practically admitted that he was the Kid. Great. Wonderful. Lovely. Fantastic. Spectacular.

"Now that you've admitted you're Kid, I have a proposition."

Kaito furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. A proposal? As in one that didn't involve him going straight to jail, do not collect two hundred yen? That sounded both promising and decidedly ominous. Though how exactly Kudo would have planned to drag him to the police station was anyone's guess.

"What kind of proposition?" Kaito asked slowly, careful not to let a single intimation slip through. No sense in giving away anything else. "And why are you even asking? I thought you were just going to arrest me."

No sense in agitating the man with the soccer ball by pointing out that in his current incarnation, Kaito was physically superior in every way.

The shrunken tantei tilted his head to look directly at him, fixing him with a determined, calculating look and a hint of a knowing smirk. "I _was_going to just arrest you, but luckily for you I decided to do some more research. This led me to the conclusion that if arrested, you'd either escape or be dead by tomorrow. Though this is just an educated guess, it'll be the snipers shooting at Kid that'll find a way to kill you without getting caught. You'll be murdered in your jail cell, right under the police's noses, and the culprits will never be found. Assuming, of course, they don't make it look like suicide."

So Tantei-kun had found out something about Snake and his murder of evil crows that looked like villains from some bad movie. Considering information on them was so sparse, _how_Kudo knew was likely related to how a famous high school detective had gotten himself stuck in the body of a seven year old in the first place.

"Your point? I didn't think you cared," Kaito replied, fishing for information. He instantly regretted it, though. That was untrue and they both knew it. Kudo deserved more credit than that. He agreed that no one gets hurt, and didn't hold too much of a grudge for the more offensive impersonations Kaito had pulled. Kudo was a better person than someone who would be willing to seal his fate by turning him in.

Kudo didn't take much offense, outwardly at least, and responded, "I don't want people to die. That includes you. I don't think you're one of the worst, but please inform me if I'm wrong. It's not as if it's impossible to keep your arrest a secret, especially since Japan isn't the only country Kaitou Kid is wanted in." There was that piercing glare again. Then again, maybe he had taken offense…

They were left in silence for a few seconds, before Kaito said, "I shouldn't have said that. I'm allowed to be on edge right now, but still." An actual apology would require a situation that was considerably less tense, however.

Kudo waited a few moments before replying, "Fine. I suppose I might've reacted similarly if someone told me they figured out my identity. But about that deal . . . are you interested?"

"Depends on what it is. Though I am curious."

"I don't like murders," Kudo began, "and I detest my love of solving them even more. I dislike that murder cases are some of the only satisfying intellectual challenges I get. While it's true that what I enjoy is bringing murderers to justice, that doesn't eliminate the fact that someone has to die for me to get that challenge. Sometimes I feel like horrible person for that. But there aren't a huge amount of people who can keep up with me, so it's hard to find another outlet where I can have a real rival and an actual contest. Kaitou Kid is the only criminal who presents that kind of challenge when no one's in danger of dying. Most of the time anyway, but those aren't your fault.

"Besides, I think it'd be fun. It always comes to a draw between us and there's not much of anyone else our age involved with law enforcement—no matter which side they're on—that's at our level. Really just Hattori and Hakuba. Hakuba's obsession with catching you is making him lose his touch, by the way. You should draw his attention to that. It'd be a shame if he went dull."

"Interesting. Though I would like to know where you got the idea that those were draws. I always got away." Kaito knew he probably shouldn't be relaxing at all, but he did feel more comfortable as he began to smirk. Kudo's reasons sounded genuine enough, and in his estimation Tantei-kun was above using this to set a trap.

And naturally Kaito knew why the detective thought of those heists as draws, but why miss an opportunity to act egotistical? Being conceited was so much fun.

Kudo gave him a deadpan look on account of the obviousness, before replying, "I nearly catch you, and even when you do get away, I either hinder your ability to get the target, or forcibly expedite its return to the police. I would hardly say that you aren't challenged by our confrontations either."

Kaito laughed. "Okay, so what's your deal?"

"Simple. I don't pursue you outside of heists or turn you in now in exchange for a challenge. Your heists are like a game anyway. Don't you like going up against someone on your own level? And the deal's even to your advantage since it's not like I have access to police resources at this age."

It was tempting. It was nice to be challenged by someone on his own level. That didn't happen often, and Kudo certainly was on that level, with not only his deductive abilities, but his ability to understand people.

"Why do I get the feeling that there's something else to this?" And there was. It didn't matter that Kudo had a lot of practice hiding things in order to trap criminals with their words, Kaito was a master of reading people. Kid's reemergence had only honed that skill. There was definitely more.

Tantei-kun smirked again. "Yeah. You're right. You see, I'm pretty sure that the Black Organization is after you. Am I right?"

To tell or not to tell, that was the question. _Ah__why__not.__Nothing__more__to__lose,__since__Tantei-kun__'__s__not__working__for__them,__and__only__an__ally__to__maybe__gain._

"I don't know what their name is, but there is a group currently trying to shoot me. A guy named Snake in particular. I presume this Black Organization has something to do with your current size?" Personally, Kaito thought the answer was obvious. He wouldn't put it past those bastards to do something like that, especially since they were after immortality. How they did it, and why Kudo, were different questions entirely.

Kudo looked contemplative in a way that really did not fit his current face. "Well, I thought they were the same. The MO matches and everything, but the group I'm dealing with has alcoholic codenames, not animal ones. Though that doesn't necessarily mean anything, they could be different branches of the organization… For one thing, if there were two groups like that in the area, the turf war would be impossible to miss."

"So we both have the same highly dangerous criminal organization after us. Let me guess. You want some information."

Tantei-kun looked up at Kaito, his gaze satisfied and slightly hopeful as he answered, "Actually, I was hoping for more of an alliance. I figure we're twice as likely to catch them if we combine our talents. We may have completely different methods, but we could still work together. I stay in hiding and try to find a case that involves them from Mouri's clients, plus working with a few contacts, and you trying to lure them out with your heists, just like we've been doing. Only this time, we have backup and a second brain to look things over. You could help me find information on them, and I could help you draw them out at heists."

Kudo had a point. Maybe it would be easier to catch the Black Organization if they worked together, though heists were something Kaito was a little reluctant to share with anyone but Jii.

Digressing, Kaito snorted. Black Organization. What an amazing feat of imagination it must've taken to produce _that_name.

Still, Kaito wanted to catchthem as soon as possible, before they could kill anyone else. Neither of them could go to the police; Kudo's predicament and his night job aside, anyone they told was at risk of being targeted. More resources and allies would be useful. It was not a bad idea, though Kaito wasn't sure he wanted to commit to anything big without some serious consideration.

"And what would the terms of this deal be?"

Kudo paused for a moment before replying, "Actually, I'm leaving that open to negotiation."

Well that was considerate of Tantei-kun.

"How about a mutual exchange of information, for starters? And obviously I won't use any knowledge of your identity to give you away, as long as you grant me the same courtesy," Kaito proposed.

There was more, but did he really want to tell the detective? Not entirely, if Kaito were being honest. This was his chance though, and Kaito was going to make the most of it. That decided, the thief continued, "Also, if you find any information on the thing I'm looking for, you tell me."

Kudo looked up at him in surprise, as if he hadn't expected such a comment. "In order for me to do that, you'd have to tell me what it is you're looking for. I mean, it's obvious you're looking for something, but we can address that later. I'm sure my curiosity will survive. In the mean time, shall we share how we got involved?"

Kaito cracked a grin; one thing they both had was a plenty of curiosity and a desire to get answers. Finally he'd find out why Kudo looked seven, though he'd reluctantly avoided looking before. He had to respect _some_of the guy's privacy. Well, just a little.

"First though, two more things. One: _leave__Ran__out__of__it._Absolutely no more dressing up as Ran or knocking her out or anything."Ha, so Kaito's plan had been working. It was just so much fun to irritate the tantei by flirting/impersonating with his not-girlfriend. (Though if anyone believed that last part, they were a blind idiot at best.)

"Only if the same goes for Aoko." At Kudo's blank look, he added, "My best friend, though unlike you, I don't have a crush on her."

Kudo snorted, though whether he didn't believe that for some reason or objected to the accusation of liking Ran was unclear. "Second thing: if I catch you, especially if that happens because we're trying to draw them out, I trust you to escape on your own before you get into the police car. If you can't, I'll help, assuming I know you need it, but that could be risky."

"Are you insinuating that I'd plan my own capture just to draw them out?" Kaito demanded, seemingly incredulous.

Kudo just shot him a deadpan look before saying, "I meant being genuinely caught, actually. Though considering you've come up with what's probably the most suicidal plan _ever_, to fight _them_no less, you probably would. Besides," he admitted, "I tried something similar to get to their boss."

That statement implied Kudo was a lot closer to catching them than he'd thought. All the more reason for this deal, Kaito supposed.

"Heh, fine. Out of curiosity, how many people know about you and are actively helping you against the Organization?" Kaito asked.

The detective looked wary despite their agreement, but then Kaito wasn't surprised. His question had hardly been small-talk, and divulging the identities of your accomplices tended to end badly no matter which side of the law you were on. Kudo worked through his caution quickly, though, and replied, "Hattori and Haibara."

"The Detective of the West I guess I saw coming, but the most sarcastic member of your detective club? Why her?" Kaito was puzzled, and he'd never been overly fond of that feeling. The only reason Kudo would ask an eight year old girl for help was…oh. Duh. "You mean she's also not really a little kid?"

Kudo nodded in confirmation. "However, her life is her business, and anyway she doesn't need to know about this. We have an agreement that I focus on pursuing the Organization and leave her peace of mind, while she focuses her attention elsewhere. As for Hattori, he has a way of involving himself. He's not going to stop either," Kudo snorted, but there was plenty of fondness in it. "He's a good ally."

"That's it? Really? That's everyone who knows who you really are? Sorry, I find that weird, especially considering Mouri-chan is so suspicious. I really don't know _why_she hasn't found you at yet. It's not like you're particularly good at pretending."

Kudo's glare just fueled Kaito's impish smirk. Ignoring that, he continued more seriously, "It's funny though. Even with those times I masqueraded as you and we were in the same room, she's still doubtful." Which made sense, since it was so freaking obvious that Edogawa Conan was no ordinary seven year old. For god's sake, he'd come closer to catching the Kid than the police force ever had. Though considering the other person who'd come close was only seventeen, maybe it wasn't quite as glaring as one might expect. But there was a big difference between seventeen and seven; there had to be a line _somewhere_.

"There are more people who know," Kudo corrected, "much as I tried to prevent some of them from finding out. Most people just aren't helping so directly or overtly. Actually, most of the help I get is from people who don't know, the FBI in particular." Kaito raised his eyebrows at that little tidbit.

"If you're worried about someone finding out about our deal—or about your identity—from this, don't," the detective continued. "Haibara doesn't want to know what I'm doing most of the time, and Hattori's in Osaka, though he's trustworthy enough you wouldn't need to worry about him knowing. No one else who knows my secret is really helping against Them, and if the others don't know my secret, there's no reason for them to know yours."

Stupid Kudo, reading his mind and concerns. He had to start somewhere, though, so Kaito just said, "Okay. You want to share first, then?"

And that pretty much sealed the deal. Whether this would help the two of them get back what they'd each lost, they wanted to stop the Organization and make them pay.

The reasons They needed to be stopped were obvious, but the Organization also needed to pay, in Kaito's mind. Not just for his and the detective's own pain, but for the all damage that had been done to people all over the world. Just how many people had died at the hands of the Organization, their families not even being granted solace in seeing the murderer brought to justice? It would save all the people who might cross Theirpath in the future and die, guilty of nothing but being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both of he and Kudo had suffered, and they both sought revenge not only by landing every last one of _them_in the world's most secure prison, but to make sure that no one else endured such pain at _their_hands, if at all possible. _After__all,_ Kaito thought, _the__best__revenge__is__living__well._ They shared a motive and could keep up with each other. It was only logical for them to start working together.

And so Kudo told him all the relevant information—well, presumably not all, since the detective likely had almost as many trust issues as he did, but it was enough. He started with the biggest mistake of his life, following those two suspicious men and getting knocked out. After that he told how drug had shrunk him, and how he'd been urged to keep it a secret from everyone, even Ran. He'd listened, of course, to keep her safe. Kudo was also careful to make sure that Kaito knew what was going on with the Sleeping Detective (though he'd pieced that part together anyway) and listed the people who'd found out. He even touched on Haibara Ai, though only barely.

Kaito felt sorry for Kudo. Even if his own dad was dead, at least he still had his own life to go back to, a right Kudo had lost. Even though the other had a chance of returning to normal, he couldn't look in the mirror to see his own face without a stepstool.

Then it was Kaito's turn, and he started with the secret room he'd discovered the afternoon he'd decided to face Kaitou Kid, mentioning Jii vaguely, but not saying anything to reveal the identity of his accomplice. He told Kudo about hearing, on that rooftop, that his father had been the first Kaitou Kid and had been murdered. Kaito had taken up the mantle of Kid for many reasons, but that incident had given him a direction, as Snake had first confronted him, stupidly confused Kaito for his father, and spilled about Pandora. He told Kudo the descriptions of Pandora and what it was supposed to do, at which the chibi detective raised a skeptical eyebrow. Nonetheless, Kaito made sure that Kudo knew that when he found Pandora, the thief was going to crush it down to its subatomic particles, or at least a fine dust of ground jewel, and throw it into the bottom of the ocean.

"Why do they think that Pandora will grant immortality? It's impossible. It's clearly just a myth. I can't believe that's really the reason they're after it." Kudo mused to himself.

"That's not the point," Kaito stated, jerking Kudo out of his train of thoughts. "The point isn't really whether that's true or not, at least not unless they get their hands on it. What matters is that they're willing to kill for it. So we have to keep them from getting it."

"Aa. You're right. Though knowing their true motive would help a lot, we can make do."

"Honestly," Kaito commented, "I could picture that being their real motive. I'm sure that some of the members are smart, considering that they've remained unknown for so long, but Snake didn't really strike me as intelligent, per se. I mean, he mistook me for a forty-something-year-old man."

Though they'd outlined the basics, it was obvious that Kudo hadn't told him the whole story any more than Kaito had. They'd both only told the basics of what was relevant, because alliance or no they were still a detective and thief. And though their previous dealings made it easier to trust each other, this was something different.

The fact that today they were without masks would have to be good enough. Though Kudo still looked like a seven year old, he wasn't pretending to be one. Kaito wasn't shielding himself behind another person's face and voice, either.

It was good enough.

Kudo looked down at his watch, Kaito realizing belatedly that he probably should've palmed it a long time ago. After all, the tranquilizer darts presented a greater threat than Kudo's other gadgets. Luckily he hadn't paid for not doing so, but Kaito remained a bit annoyed he hadn't thought of that.

…If they were going to start trusting each other, Kaito was going to have to get used to openly working with the shrunken teen from time to time. Which would presumably mean not fearing for his cover every time they were in the same room.

Still, he was going to miss their competitions. . . Oh wait, hadn't Kudo said that they'd continue that? That was good, it _was_fun to be chased by either of his detectives. Speaking of which, sometime he'd have to arrange to go up against Hattori, especially with how highly Kudo had spoken of the Osakan. He'd have to rectify their lack of interaction in the near future.

"I'll ensure that news of my next heist makes its way to Mouri-san. I expect a good chase, Tantei-kun," Kaito voiced his thoughts with a smirk.

Kudo looked up at him with a matching smirk, his answer to the challenge clear. "You're planning something already? Alright, I look forward to it."

Kudo glanced at his watch again. "But for now, Ran's expecting me back soon, so I better go." The former teen looked somewhat vexed at his curfew, if Kaito did say so. "Ja ne."

Kudo turned and walked off just like that. However, Kaito deemed it necessary to prank the detective at least once today, so…

"Oi Tantei-kun, I think you're forgetting something!" Kaito yelled after him, dangling the silver-banded watch he'd just swiped with one of Kid's infamous smirks.

Turning around, Kudo automatically confirmed that it was in fact _his_tranquilizer watch in the thief's hands. He then sighed with exasperation and muttered, "Of _course_he did. Stupid thief."

As he tossed the watch back to Kudo, who caught it easily, Kaito replied, "I'll have you know I'm not just some common thief, I'm a kaitou."

"Aa," Kudo bantered, "but no matter how big your bag of tricks, a thief is still a thief. I'll catch you soon, even if it means I have to sneak you the keys to your handcuffs to keep up my end of the deal. Ja ne." With that, Kudo walked off for real, leaving Kaito to walk home and ponder over their deal. Hopefully things would turn out for the best, though Murphy would probably insist on something bad happening first.

With a chuckle at what had transpired, Kaito walked off to get his mother some groceries.


	2. Knowledge

You guys are so lucky, this is over twice the ength of the last chapter. It's also only been a week. Way ahead of schedule.

Sorry if I misspelled any Japanese words. I admit to being too lazy to hunt through fic after fic in an attempt to find the right spelling, and hope that author had it right. Also, I don't care if the Japanese names later on aren't real, I made them up when my internet was down. They sound Japanese at the very least, so please just bear with me.

Also, I'd like to note that I am only human and not Gosho Aoyama. Therefore, I sadly can't say that the characters will be perfectly in character 100% of the time. I will do my best and things will be realistic, but it may not be exactly what a character would do in a specific situation. This is a fanfiction, and this is my as-canon-as-possible interpretation of the characters.

Can't think of anything else to say really.

Disclaimer: If I owned, Magic Kaito would still be running, and Kaitou Kid would appear more in Detective Conan.

Read and review. Or else!

* * *

At the exact same moment, two different people thought, "I hope I made the right decision." It would be a lie to say that they were thinking about the same thing, or anything even close. Both the decisions made were important though, and would probably affect the rest of their lives.

_I know he agreed to the deal, but still, if Kuroba panics, there's gonna be a problem. But I'm one to talk, I purposed the deal, and he agreed. I don't have the right to even be_ thinking _these things. I mean, he accepted it. And it's not as if we haven't worked together before. Even if it's only been in the open once, we both knew it. Why am I thinking this? I trusted him enough to make the deal, so I have to trust him not to back out of it and run. Besides, that's not his style. Getting away he's fine with, but not only is he too prideful to run away, but it would mean abandoning his life and becoming someone new so that I couldn't find him._

Kudo Shinichi, trapped in the seven year old form of Edogawa Conan, much to his resentment, was sitting on the bus on the way to the Mouri Detective Agency. After all, Ekoda was too far to walk to from Beika, though it might've been doable if he was still seventeen. But he wasn't. At least not externally, he had definitely retained his intellect through the transformation, something he was thankful for. After all, it would be hard to be a murder detective if he had the thought processes of a seven year old, despite the fact that the Shounen Tantei-dan had solved them before, they had yet to solve one entirely by themselves.

The bus ride wasn't all that long, but it felt longer due to his impatience to get home and the fact that he was pondering over his divided opinions on having to lie to Ran about his identity. Sometimes he thought that since he wanted to tell her even though it went against all logic, he should. Something always happened though, every single time he was about to tell her.

There was that time Haibara had decided to knock some sense into him by pretending the Black Organization had taken her back so she could continue her research under the condition that she killed him, his parents, and Hattori. She even went so far as to hold an _extremely_realistic fake gun to his head. Even though Shinichi had trouble seeing it because it was dark and he was lying down, he'd seen enough guns and deaths by bullet wounds to be able to have a decent amount of accuracy when it came to guns. Both shooting and determining the authenticity and make.

And all the other times they were interrupted, whether or not that had be planned or welcomed. There was the first day he was Conan, when he would've told her right off the bat if her dad hadn't fallen down the stairs in front of them. Several times someone had impersonated him, whether over the phone or in person.

That wasn't the point however, as Shinichi couldn't tell Ran about Conan even if he sort of wanted to. He'd contemplated it many times, but Haibara or someone would stop him again, in all likelihood. Especially with his rotten luck.

Not that Shinichi thought he was going to be telling at any point in the near future. If _they_found him out and Ran knew, she'd be killed. As long as she was ignorant, they wouldn't hurt her. In his opinion, it was better that she was alive and missing him than if she'd known he was there and dead. But occasionally, in rare moments every so often, he'd see how sad she was or hear her crying at night when she thought no one was listening. She tried to put on a mask to be strong, but she had to let her feelings show sometimes, and that just made him feel even guiltier. Especially when he thought of how just because she looked happy didn't mean she was. Shinichi couldn't always tell when, but sometimes he _knew_ that the pain was eating away at Ran, though she suppressed it so people wouldn't worry.

That just made him feel worse, because he'd caused Ran's suffering, and there she was, trying to put on a brave, happy face for her father, Sonoko-chan, and especially her young charge, "Conan-kun".

It was times like that that made Shinichi really hate himself for what he was doing to her. He was amazed at, and eternally grateful for how long Ran had been willing to wait for him. And she still hadn't given up. Shinichi felt so unworthy of her, she was so patient, beautiful, caring, passionate, and knew exactly how to keep his ego in check. He loved her for it. He just plain loved her for being herself, loved her for everything she was.

She loved him too, and she's told him so, not only thinking she was talking to the seven year old Conan, but when he looked (or sounded) like the seventeen year old he really was. She was perfect like that, and he was living in her house, lying to her about it. Curse those men in black, why did they have to do this to him? Why did they have to pick that day to meet at Tropical Land, and go on that exact roller coaster car?

Really, Shinichi knew he was to blame. More than he asked those questions, he asked to himself, "Why did I have to follow them?" "How could I be stupid enough to forget that there were two of them?" and things like that.

On some level, Shinichi was appreciative of that. In turning him into a seven year old and thinking that they'd killed him, the Black Organization had given him the chance to take them down, and stop more people from suffering at their hands. But he would still never, ever, forgive them for turning him into Edogawa Conan and taking him away from Ran.

Even if that little push of Shinichi's absence had been useful towards getting to the point of going out for real, and actually calling themselves boyfriend and girlfriend if he could ever really come back, it was just so wrong. He and Ran loved each other, they would've gotten there pretty soon, this wasn't useful at all. Shrinking into a little kid and being forced to abandon your life was just horribly wrong on so many levels, he couldn't think of a way to describe it.

_I need to start calling her more often. Maybe I should do that tonight; it's been almost a week since we last talked. I want to be able to really _talk _to her again. For one thing I just need to talk to another teenager who treats me like one in return, and Hattori said something about going somewhere with Kazuha-chan for the next day or two, so I can't call him. Those two need to realize how much they like each other, I mean seriously. That thing Hattori said to me once about me being so adept at figuring out what others are thinking and feeling, but being unable to do the same about myself, that applies to him too. At least he's realized he likes her, but he needs to come out and tell her already. Not that I'm exactly in any position to be giving relationship advice right now._

Unfortunately, that was also true, and Shinichi knew it. This wasn't the time to dwell on his situation or having to lie to Ran however, because the bus was approaching his stop, and brooding over vaguely depressing things like that made it incredibly hard to don the mask of Edogawa Conan. Seven year olds didn't get depressed, stressed, or even all that quiet if they weren't sleeping. Kids his "age" were supposed to be cheerful, carefree, excited, and inquisitive, and that was a rather hard act to pull off when he was brooding over things like this, things he couldn't do much to fix.

So he dropped it and moved on to happier topics such as what they were doing tomorrow, since tomorrow would be Sunday he didn't have to go to school. Ugh, the first grade was so freaking boring! Also, as it was relevant to the recent past, wondering about the Kid heist that Kuroba had mentioned. It sounded . . . interesting, as well as a refreshing break from the murder cases. While it was impossible for him to ever truly dislike solving the murder cases, well, it was the end of the week, and they'd run into, what was it, five bodies this week? One of which was with the Shounen Tantei-dan, one with Agasa-hakase and Haibara – thankfully, he could act normally for that one most of the time – and the other three with Mouri-san and Ran, only one of which had been brought in by a client. The other two they'd run into while they were out doing things, like shopping at the mall. That one had been annoying as hell.

Solving the murders was still exciting, and as he'd told Kuroba, that fact made him feel guilty. Sometimes though, it got a bit excessive. Like this week, in his opinion, one murder case a week was enough. Take that back, no one should ever have to lose their life prematurely at the hands of another like that. _Great job Shinichi, now I feel bad again for thinking that. Even if it was an accident, just a little slip of the thoughts, I still meant that that's a good pace for solving them, _Shinichi thought to himself.

_If this were an idealistic world_ he continued, yeah right though, everyone had a different idea of "ideal" and "perfect", so that was impossible. _Then there'd be no murderers or crime. Kuroba wouldn't be Kid because his dad would still be alive and there'd be no Organization for him to get revenge on, no gem his dad had been killed for. And there would probably have never been a Kaitou Kid in the first place, and no police force, since no one would commit any crimes in an ideal universe. There wouldn't be a hole in the ozone layer, there'd be no poverty, no world hunger, and we'd already have gone into space to solve the problem of over population, because there'd be no wars, and as sad as it is to admit, the planet would already be vastly overpopulated if it wasn't for the wars our ancestors fought. Ugh, that makes me feel so selfish and dirty to admit. Time for another topic change, considering that I managed to get just a few meters from the Detective Agency without paying any attention whatsoever._

_That probably says something about how much I'm used to living here and treating this place like a makeshift home, and I'm not sure I want to figure out whether it's good or bad._

"Tadaima Ran-neechan!" Shinichi called out as he walked through the door of the apartment above the Agency, putting on his cute little "Conan-kun" face as he did so. Ran had seemed a bit worried about something or other lately, though he wasn't quite sure what, and he didn't want to add to her stress.

"Konnichiwa Conan-kun, how was it at Agasa-hakase's? Did he blow up one of his inventions on accident this time?" Ran asked, referring to a rather messy explosion that had happened last time Shinichi was there with the rest of the Shounen Tantei-dan. What was it again . . . oh yeah, the professor had been trying to get that personal jetpack of his to work again. And it had failed again.

"Nope, but only because Haibara and I got him to take us to the park. We played on the swings; it was a lot of fun. I swung high enough that I could see over the bar at the top one time!" No reason not to use this as an excuse to settle some of her suspicions, but it made him feel like such a hypocrite, after all, wasn't he Mr.-there's-only-one-truth? Here he was though, lying through his teeth to his best friend about everything that was going on in his life at the moment.

"That's good, I'm glad you got outside. By the way—" Ran started, before being cut off by a voice from the kitchen.

"Hey Ran-chan, is Conan-kun here yet? You said we could go once he got here," came a voice from the other room, interrupting Ran in an Osaka accent, just as Kazuha-chan came in from the other room, followed by Hattori. _What're they doing here? I thought Hattori said they'd be – oh, he meant they'd be here in Tokyo. Why didn't he tell me? He does have some other reason besides surprising me, right?_came Shinichi's confused thoughts as he processed the two Osaka teens standing in the living room of the Mouri residence.

"Hey Ku-Conan-kun. Glad to see you're here, we've been waiting for awhile, it's about time we left," Hattori said, speaking up for the first time, and once again, almost calling him "Kudo". It was inevitable, really, and probably the reason Hattori had taken to calling him "bozu", so he didn't stumble in front of someone who shouldn't hear his real name. Which was almost everyone, when in reference to Shinichi's current form of Edogawa Conan, since so few people knew.

"Huh? Go where?"

Hattori gave a kind of half-smirk out of the entertainment at knowing something he didn't, which irritated Shinichi immensely. "Don't ya know? We're going to the museum. They've got a special exhibit on the history of crime novels, and the girls want to see the gem hall. Apparently, they've got some big gem on loan for about two weeks; I think it's an Emerald or something."

"After that we're going to go eat at a restaurant, there's this Italian place Ran-chan mentioned, we'll probably go there. It'll be fun; it's been a while since we've gone somewhere. Maybe next time Kudo-kun can join us, I know Ran-chan's missing him," Kazuha-chan explained, getting a _look_from Ran, probably annoyed about the reference to Shinichi. He didn't really see why though, Kazuha hadn't said that they were in love, which they were. Or at least he was in love with Ran. They were still going to deny it to the ends of the Earth until he came back as Shinichi though.

"Let's go then. I wanna see the stuff they have on Holmes!" Shinichi said in his most excited little boy voice, at which Hattori quirked an amused eyebrow at his abandonment of male pride. After all, he knew that it was really Shinichi there in front of him. Kazuha and Ran giggled at his reaction, Ran also rolling her eyes and muttering a comment about how much Conan was like that baka mystery-otaku, but her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. She wasn't completely depressed by any means, but she was sad and she missed him. Both teen meitantei had noticed it, and it hurt Shinichi to see her sad over him when he was standing right there. He felt unbelievably guilty.

They were going by bus, since there weren't any adults coming, and the museum was too far away to walk. Hattori's motorcycle could only fit two people after all, so there really weren't any other options. Hattori hadn't brought his motorcycle anyway.

"Ya know neechan's sad again. I saw it when you said that thing about Holmes. Maybe you should tell her sometime," Hattori suggested quietly, as they'd fallen behind the girls, not all that interested in their chatter (as long as neither of them were involved, at least) and knowing that girls would be a mystery they'd never be able to crack anyway, not matter how good they got.

"Hattori, you know I can't tell her. If _they_find out about me and she knows, she'll be killed too. She doesn't deserve to die for my mistakes. I can't tell her, no matter how much I want to. That'd be selfish, I'd probably end up getting her killed, and then I'd never forgive myself," Shinichi said, his face grim but his resolve firm. No matter how much he wanted to, her life was worth more to him than his happiness. As mean as it sounded, he'd also rather that she was alive, sad, depressed, and missing him, than dead because he'd told. He didn't want Ran to be sad over him at all, but if those were the choices, no way was he going to let her die. Shinichi just hoped that if, kami forbid, that did happen, she'd move on quickly and not dwell on him for too long. He hated it when Ran was sad.

Hattori looked uncertain, but replied "Okay Kudo, if you're sure, I'll help. I'm not sure I agree, but I don't really know what your full situation is, even if you've been keeping me more or less updated . . . as far as I know. Just make sure you tell her the truth when this whole mess is over, I think neechan deserves at least that much. I'm with you against _them_ though."

"Thanks Hattori, it's nice to have a friend in this who I can talk too," Shinichi replied, looking up with a smile. He then resumed looking ahead and realizing they were falling behind, and Ran to catch up with Hattori in pursuit, and soon in front of him. Of course, a teenager could run faster than a primary school kid, so it was only logical for Hattori to overtake Shinichi, even with his head start. It was so freaking unfair though, and was even worse when he was trying to chase Kaitou Kid.

They were close to missing the bus, and if it wasn't for the girls being ahead of them and walking up just before the driver closed the door, they would have missed it. However that wasn't the case, so it was rather irrelevant. They paid their fares and sat down in one of the booth-like spots where the seats face each other, "Conan-kun" and Ran sat on one side, with Hattori and Kazuha on the other, engaged in conversation about whether Tokyo or Osaka was better. Well, actually, that'd been mostly Hattori and Shinichi, each arguing fiercely that their city was better, much to the amusement of their companions. The two boys were obviously the loyal type, though they'd known that already.

Ran and Kazuha-chan, on the other hand, were chatting about martial arts and occasionally how useful it could be on a crime scene, which led to comments about a couple teen detectives, not all complimentary, but that topic was quickly averted either back to martial arts or moving to something new, like shopping. The boys had briefly heard some of the martial arts and shopping stuff, entirely missing what was said about them, and that didn't exactly make them comfortable.

Mostly because both Ran and Kazuha-chan were downright scary as martial artists sometimes, Ran with her karate and Kazuha-chan with Aikido. On top of that, both were champions and had at least a second-degree black belt. They were masters. Examples of such darted through Shinichi's head, Ran bending metal or cracking cement with her bare fists, not exactly something a normal person could do. But it was just another thing that made Ran so special, and he liked the fact that she was so strong and independent a woman.

As for Kazuha-chan, he'd seen her take down criminals, armed, bigger, and stronger than her, not caring if she got hurt. Multiple people like that who'd tried to attack her; they'd all lost pretty quickly. Of course, he'd never seen her at any aikido tournaments, where she competed against other masters, the way he'd seen Ran's karate tournaments so many times growing up. Still, they were more than strong enough to handle any real threat they'd come across so far, with the exception of those who took hostages. Shinichi hated people who did that, it was so dirty, so utterly low, and showed they were desperate and lacked the skill to get away on their own.

An ability which Kaitou Kid had of course, which just made the chases that much more entertaining. The heists had always been a game, it would be entertaining to see where the new twist brought on by Shinichi figuring out Kid's identity would bring. As long as no one was killed, it'd stay fun. Kid heists made Shinichi hate murders more than ever, it was just completely the wrong setting.

Kid had a moral code which included No One Gets Hurt. That was his biggest, along with returning the items. If someone died, especially if the culprit tried to pin it on the thief, it just mad Shinichi mad. That'd happened far too much for his taste. Just once was too much.

It took awhile, but the bus pulled up at the museum. They were all eager to see the exhibits they'd come for and not so much the other group, the detectives not overly interested in the gem hall, while the girls – especially Ran – complained that they were getting fed up with Sherlock Holmes and Ellery Queen after hearing so much about them from their childhood friends. That definitely made plans harder, considering that they were going to try to stay as a group.

As Kazuha-chan had so eloquently put it, "If we leave you two alone for five minutes, someone will get murdered, you'll get caught up in the investigation, and forget about our existence till after you're done. Then you'll try to find us and when you do Ran-chan and I'll both be mad, ruining the whole evening." Kazuha-chan clearly hadn't been trying to avoid bluntness.

After much arguing, Ran suggested a coin toss. "We call heads!" Hattori had yelled much louder than necessary.

Ran flipped the 10¥ coin into the air and it was doing flips up and down in midair until Ran caught it and put it flat on the back of her palm, covered by her other hand. When she revealed the coin it'd landed on tails, much to the annoyance of Shinichi and Hattori.

With Ran and Kazuha-chan leading the way to the gem hall, Shinichi muttered out of the corner of his mouth "I'm never letting you call it again."

The statement provoked Hattori into defending himself in the argument. "How was I supposed to know it was gonna land on heads? There's a fifty-fifty chance you know."

"Hey slowpokes, hurry up and get over here, we're almost at the gem hall!" Kazuha called behind her, and surely enough, the entrance to the gem hall was only a few meters in front of the girls.

The gem hall wasn't very well lit, instead having spotlights above all the gems, showing off their color and in some cases, making them sparkle and shine that much brighter. The ceiling was also low throughout the hall, only about ten feet high. The room also had a very peculiar shape, something sort of like a rhombus, Shinichi supposed, with a smaller room sectioned off right in the middle. The wall to their right had a display case spanning at least thirty feet, with small gems of various sorts labeled inside. It was the best-lit place in the entire exhibit. There were also little pedestals in the middle of the room displaying groups of up to five larger crystals, often embedded at least partially in another gem or rock.

More exploring and looking around revealed that the room in the middle held a mini-exhibit on gold, and there were two more rooms behind it, as well as a vault for the really valuable gems. In short, the gem hall was big, and Ran and Kazuha-chan could make them all stay here as long as they wanted to. Shinichi's patience was wearing thin.

Finally, _finally_, they'd looked at everything but the gem vault, which was where all the large, most precious and expensive gems were. It also happened to be where they were displaying the Emerald, which was there for the next two and a half weeks. Of course, this happened to be where the girls were spending the longest, and having a field day with finding their different birthstones from every country on the list, there were three or four of those.

There was also over five minutes spent on investigating the emerald, Shinichi believed the label said that its name was the Sagebrush Emerald. Personally, Shinichi didn't see what the big deal was, and though it was pretty, it wasn't at all practical. Vaguely, he wondered whether Kuroba would attempt to steal it and see if it was Pandora. Though the thief had left out a lot of details –so had Shinichi though- he's been clear about the description of Pandora, just in case the tantei knew anything.

"Is there anything else we should see while we're here?"

"Nah, I think that's it. Besides, you can see how antsy Hattori-kun and Conan-kun are becoming," Ran replied to Kazuha-chan's question, both of which were overheard by the tantei.

"You mean we can go see the exhibition on the mystery novels?" demanded Hattori. The second the girls gave an affirmative nod, the two dashed out of the room towards the aforementioned exhibit.

"Hey, you two! No running in the museum!" Only to get stopped by the two guards stationed outside the gem vault yelling at them. Not wanting to be delayed any longer, Shinichi and Hattori grudgingly slowed down to a fast walk, the girls walking calmly and chatting about five meters behind them, the distance growing every second. Emphasis on "fast walking".

They were both incredibly grateful that the special exhibit hall happened to be just about the corner from the gem hall, especially since the museum was rather large and three stories high. It was a much quicker commute than if the halls had been on opposite sides of the museum. After all, the sooner they got there, the happier the two were. Really, it made sense that two detectives would have such a passion for mystery novels.

"Hey look at this! It's Doyle's original manuscript of A Study in Scarlet, the first ever Holmes novel!" Shinichi said, pointing it out excitedly, acting more like the little kid he appeared to be, and not even faking it this time.

"Please, that's so boring! You and I both know that Ellery Queen kicks Doyle's ass!" Hattori fiercely yelled back. In his opinion, Queen was by far the best. However, Shinichi thought Doyle was supreme, which led to an inevitable argument caused by clashing opinions.

Or at least, it would have if it weren't for an interruption. "Heiji! Don't swear in front of little kids! You'll teach them bad habits!" Kazuha-chan kept the argument from escalating beyond that, reprimanding Hattori for his language. After all, it _looked_ like he was cursing to a seven year old, even if that wasn't really the case. Not that either of the girls knew that, nor were they supposed to.

"Honestly, you two are so immature. Conan-kun, don't repeat any swear words you hear Hattori-kun saying. Got it?" Ran clearly agreed. They both nodded, agreeing that they wouldn't swear anymore in that conversation. End of discussion, the girls were leaving no room for argument.

The two teens looked at each other as their childhood friends, accepting the response, walked back towards the beginning of the hall and started chatting again, oblivious to the exhibit that held the wonders of the best mystery novels written in the past hundred fifty years or so.

"How can they ignore all this? And please, everyone knows that Holmes is the best!" Shinichi shot back, this time in a quieter tone, just in case the girls happened to make sure they didn't swear again.

They debated the superiority of their favorite author for awhile, until they realized that if they kept this up, they wouldn't get a chance to actually look at the exhibit before Ran and Kazuha-chan dragged them out to go to dinner.

Said scenario happened about forty-five minutes later, before Shinichi and Hattori had looked around to their satisfaction, but seeing as the museum would be closing shortly anyway, they reluctantly agreed and left to go to dinner.

"So, where's this Italian place you were talking about?" Hattori asked, eager for dinner and still a bit irritated over having to leave the exhibit early. He was trying to focus on other things so he didn't take it out on anyone else. Not that that was likely to work for very long, but still, it was the thought that counted.

"Oh, it's just a few blocks away. No reason to take a bus or anything, it's not even a ten minute walk from the museum. It's really good, especially their pizza and noodles. And they have really good desserts too," Ran replied.

"Ne Ran-chan, want to go shopping after dinner? Our train doesn't leave till nine pm, apparently the earliest one before it runs at seven, so it's too late to catch that one." Kazuha-chan asked, making the meitantei freeze in fear when they heard those words. It didn't matter that they could stand in the same room as a murderer without fear, or confront someone armed with a knife, sword, gun, or some other weapon without panicking and win. The one thing they would always fear was shopping. Especially Hattori, seeing as no one was going to make a cute little seven year old boy carry their bags. Not that that would make it much more pleasant for Shinichi at all.

"Sure! I need some new shirts for the summer anyway, and since it's getting warm already, might as well get them now," _Not good! Ran, why did you agree? Come on, there's got to be a way out of this!_Shinichi thought, trying to keep his dread of the idea from showing, an extreme dislike of shopping wasn't warranted with his young appearance.

"But Ran-neechan, I don't wanna go shopping! I wanna go home and show Heiji-niichan that new detective novel I bought last week? Remember that one? I wanna go read it, I don't wanna go shopping Ran-neechan!" whined "Conan", on the verge of throwing a fit. Hattori was torn between disbelief and snickering at how utterly ridiculous Shinichi was acting, and Kazuha-chan was on the verge of giggling, as was Ran, though she hid it better and was more sympathetic-looking. _Do I really look that funny?_Shinichi wondered. _I mean, I can understand Hattori laughing, he knows about me, but what do Kazuha-chan and Ran find so funny. Pft, they're probably just giggling over how cute "Conan-kun" looks, even when he's on the verge of a tantrum._

"Ma Ma Conan-kun, you and Hattori-kun can go back home while we go shopping. Is that okay?" Ran asked, making them both sigh with relief, they didn't have to go!

"Hai Ran-neechan, that's fine! I can't wait to show Heiji-niichan my mystery book!" "Conan-kun" exclaimed, and as Ran suggested a couple stores to hit that evening, Hattori ducked down to say something to him privately.

"Thanks Kudo, that was close."

Shinichi snorted, "Please, as if I wanted to go shopping any more than you do."

"Aa. I don't think there's a guy out there who actually likes shopping, it goes against some law of nature."

"You can thank me by not slipping up and almost calling me 'Kudo' again. You already did that three times today, Ran might get suspicious," Shinichi said with a smirk. Although he knew it was pointless, banter-type discussion such as this was fun to engage in with someone his own age again from time to time.

"Actually, I think if she hasn't noticed by now, it's not gonna matter all that much."

"I don't know, despite everything I've done to try and prove her wrong, she still seems to b—" Shinichi replied a bit warily of being overheard, when they noticed they weren't following Ran and Kazuha-chan anymore. After looking around for a few seconds, they realized that was because the restaurant was three stores back, and the girls had already gone in.

"Think they've noticed we're not behind them yet?" Hattori asked, mentally calculating their chances of getting away without a scolding from their companions. Even worse since it'd mostly be directed at him, with Shinichi in his shrunken state and all. It was more logical to assume that Shinichi had been following Hattori, after all.

"Definitely. They probably just decided it'd be entertaining to see how long it took us to realize we passed it, and chew us out when we went back." Hattori gave a resigned sigh, clearly not looking forward to the imminent scolding they'd get, even if it'd probably be short because the prospect of shopping had put the girls in considerably good moods.

And sure enough, when they got in there, Ran and Kazuha-chan were sitting in a booth not too far from the reception desk, and when they sat down, the girls were more than happy to give the detectives a piece of their minds about almost getting left behind and their lack of observant abilities, at least temporarily.

Which, naturally, was a statement met with resentment. The two boys were detectives, which meant they were supposed to be alert at all times, and they were two of the best. To have missed something that obvious was due partially to the fact that they were engaged in conversation, and also that they were teenage boys. However, it still wasn't something Shinichi wanted rubbed in his face and he suspected the same went for his "rival" of sorts.

"Heiji you aho! How you could not notice something so completely obvious, even as big an aho as you are is beyond me!"

"You're the aho! You didn't even bother to tell us we were at the restaurant!"

"Well I didn't realize you were being such a completely aho-ish aho that I'd need to! How such an aho can be a famous detective when he couldn't even figure that out is beyond me!"

"I'm not an aho; I'm a perfectly good detective! You're the aho here!"

"If you think I'm an aho, you're an even bigger aho than I thought, which is pretty darn big of an aho!"

"Yeah, well you're an even bigger aho!"

"Oh yeah, wel—"

"They're so immature, aren't they Conan-kun," asked Ran, interrupting the couple. Shinichi hid the roll of his eyes at their antics, but nodded in agreement to Ran.

"We're not immature!" both Hattori and Kazuha-chan protested in unison, earning themselves another eye roll from Shinichi, while Ran giggled.

"Someone help! Ishinomo-san is chocking!" yelled out a nearby female voice, and when the group looked over frantically, they saw a middle-aged woman standing up, her hands at her throat and her face contorted in pain. Her friends were standing around her shocked and worried, and while they looked on a man hurried over and grabbed Ishinomo-san's waist, squeezing tightly in an attempt at the Heimlich Maneuver.

"Ishinomo-san! Try and cough it up! Come on!" the man behind her yelled, continuing to make convulsing motions with his arms in an effort to push up what Ishinomo-san was chocking on, but as he was doing that, she was still crumpling in pain that didn't quite make sense for someone chocking.

In fact, several things looked wrong about her for someone who was chocking. The degree of pain she was in, the fact that she couldn't stand up, and also that the man was performing a perfectly good Heimlich, which wasn't working at all. Catching Hattori's glance, he determined that the detective of the west felt the same, and their suspicions were proven correct when the Ishinomo-san collapsed in the man's arms.

"Someone call an ambulance now!" yelled one of the others who'd been sitting at her table.

Hattori and Shinichi ran over, surprising several people and causing another person to almost trip over Shinichi. If they weren't worried about what might come of the situation, and preoccupied with hoping they were wrong, then they might've stopped and given that fact more than a fleeting second of notice. "Conan-kun", for example, would've been extremely irked about that fact, though as it was, he only spared a half a second to feel his irritation while running. Hattori, on the other hand, would've noticed, laughed, and then, inevitably, mocked him for it. Sometimes, being stuck as a seven year old was useful, but the other ninety-five percent of the time, it stunk. Really badly.

"Move! I need to see something!" Hattori told the group, all of which was rather shocked or frightened. A few seconds later, he was at Ishimono's side, and checked her pulse. Shinichi received all the confirmation he needed in Hattori's grim, determined look. The woman hadn't been chocking, she was poisoned. And now she was dead, right in front of them, killed right under their noses.

It infuriated them. A detective's job was to catch criminals, especially murderers, in their cases. That didn't mean, however, that they couldn't regret that the crime had ever happened in the first place. This wasn't the first time someone had been killed right in front of them either, usually by poison. Occasionally, there were even people who tried to use the police or detectives like themselves for alibis. Neither Shinichi nor Hattori had seen it coming, and Shinichi knew that Hattori regretted it as much as he did. If there had been a way to stop that murder, he would've taken it.

Then again though, he wouldn't have stopped it no matter what if he had the ability. As guilty as it made him feel, Shinichi knew he had to, and did, prioritize. He would only attempt to stop a murder no matter what if it were someone precious to him who had their life at stake, like Ran. Probably Hattori, his parents, Agasa-hakase, and Ai as well. Possibly the Shounen Tantei-dan or Kaitou Kid, once he got to know him better. Wait, that was foolish. No matter how much of a hypocrite it made him feel, no matter how guilty and horrible it felt or how much it made him hate himself, Shinichi knew that the only person he'd ever met that he'd want to save at any cost was Ran.

_I guess that's part of what it means to be in love,_ he thought. _Being willing to do anything for a person and wanting to see them safe and happy, even at your own expense_.

He would try as hard as he could to save any life, especially the ones of those already listed, the lives of people who were important to him. People who were precious to him.

Sometimes though, detectives like him just had to accept reality. He'd seen a lot of people die in his lifetime, and he knew that every time a life was lost, the people who cared about the deceased person mourned and suffered, usually even more than the victim themselves. A life could never be retrieved once lost. So he had to accept the truth. _Someone died here. They were killed. I might not be able to bring them back, but I will not let the murderer get away with this. If it's the only thing I can do, I will bring the culprit to justice and offer some final closure to their family and friends, a person to blame. And I will prevent the deceased from dying a nameless death._Once that was done, he would dwell on it for a few minutes, perhaps offer the mental equivalent of a prayer for someone who didn't really believe in any of that stuff, like the afterlife, take a minute to honor the deceased, and then move on. That was how life worked. Sometimes, it was the only way he stayed sane. Once it was all over with, justice brought, and closure given, Kudo Shinichi would accept the death for what it was, and move on.

Yet he knew, that if that ever happened to someone he cared about, he would not be able to take it so calmly and move on like that. He would dwell and regret, some small part of him blaming himself for not being able to prevent that death. He was a hypocrite, but he didn't worry about that. Shinichi would think about it when it happened, but until them, he had a murderer to catch.

"It's too late. She's dead. Kazuha, call the police! Neechan, tell the staff to make sure no one leaves the building!" Then came the final decree, there was no doubt now. Now everyone there knew that Ishinomo-san was dead.

"Hai," replied both girls before going to do as instructed, and follow routine. Really, if Shinichi were to think about it, this sort of thing happened way too much.

"Who are you to declare stuff like that?! You're just a teenager, not some police officer or form of authority! Buzz off!"

"I'm Hat—" Hattori started declaring, for while he was certainly a lot better than Mouri-san and deserved his title, he was still prideful about it. Shinichi didn't quite realize that he was pretty much the same, if to a slightly lesser degree, before the whole Conan fiasco. It was hard to have a big ego when you could be killed if your real name leaks and when you can be pushed or hauled around easily by almost all adults. None of which will take you seriously, because they're just talking to a seven year old grade-schooler. All that combined, and you've got one big bubble burst in terms of ego.

"Heiji-niichan, look at this. This was cyanide poisoning." Despite the childish way he addressed Hattori, Shinichi's tone was dead serious. Hattori left his argument and came over to see, something which Shinichi had partially planned as a way to avert the fight. And it was true, there was bluing on the late Ishimono-san's lips and nails, clearly indicating cyanide as the murder weapon.

"Aa. You're right," Hattori replied, then, turning to face everyone, he gave the orders that were needed to bring some order to the chaos caused by the recent murder. "Okay, everyone who was sitting at Ishimono-han's table and the waiter who served them, come over here now." The man from before wanted to protest again, but Hattori was exuding confidence and control, you didn't have to be a detective to realize that he knew what he was doing. That ability was especially needed in people their age, after all, not many people are likely to take a seventeen year old seriously, and it helped a great deal that they both had dads involved with their local police force. _Come to think of it, so does Hakuba,_Shinichi realized.

The police arrived as Hattori's orders were being carried out, Megure-keibu both surprised and grudgingly a little bit happy to see that "Conan" and Hattori were there, as well as put out that not only would Hattori (and Shinichi, though they didn't know that) probably end up solving the case again, but once again, a murder had occurred around him.

Shinichi was well aware that Mouri was gaining the reputation of being a death magnet from Megure-keibu, and Hattori had a similar, if less severe, misfortune. He also knew that most of the bodies seemed to be come across when _he_was in the area, not Mouri-ojisan. After all, he had run into a bunch of mysteries, some of them murders, with the Shounen Tantei-dan. Really, though it was Saturday, this was the fifth murder this week that he'd run into. His death toll was irritatingly high, sometimes it amazed him that after all this time, he was not only so apathetic towards death, but also still sane.

"The deceased is Ishimono Nikoma-san, age 37, employee at Rusimark Electronics on the programming committee," Takagi-keiji reported from his policeman's notebook, as was standard for murder investigations. "The cause of death is cyanide poisoning at six forty-seven pm."

"Sou ka. Satou-kun, get forensics over here and have them test Ishimono-san's food, utensils, and plate." Megure-keibu gave instructions to the officers on how to conduct the investigation, however, so far unnoticed by him, "Conan" and Hattori were already testing for where the cyanide came from with a copper 10¥ coin.

"Oi! What're you two doing? Get away from there, this is a police investigation!"

"Demo Megure-keibu, we already found what we were looking for anyway. As far as we can tell, there's cyanide on Ishimono-han's pizza, salad fork, and hands. You can go ahead."

"Ano, Takagi-keiji, can you ask the forensics and autopsy people to check where the highest concentration of cyanide is?" requested Shinichi, once again playing the part of the little kid interested in detective work assisting Hattori or Mouri-ojisan. Also, if he asked Takagi-keiji, it was more likely that he'd end up finding out.

"Ano . . . Sure, why not?" Takagi answered exactly as Shinichi had hoped. He just hoped he didn't have to deal with the repercussions from giving it away to Takagi-keiji that he definitely wasn't a normal kid. As cool as it had sounded, and as much as he thought it wouldn't matter, that they were going to die in under an hour anyway, giving Takagi-keiji that line about telling him who he really was in the afterlife might not have been the brightest idea he'd ever had. Shinichi hadn't really been expecting to live through that incident at the time, though now he was thanking god whenever it was brought up that Takagi-keiji had the kind of personality that meant he hadn't really done any digging at all. Despite obviously being befuddled and curious, though Takagi-keiji did have a habit of really listening to what he said, despite Shinichi's apparent age. Seems he wasn't quite as naïve as everybody thought.

"Arigato Takagi-keiji!"

Hattori, in the meantime, had gathered all the possible suspects in one area to ask them a few questions, and now that he had police backup, there was no arguing. Shinichi quickly turned and walked over to hear, and as he walked over, he noticed Ran and Kazuha-chan, who had apparently come back awhile ago and were sitting off in a corner talking. _Probably talking about boys or something, that's why they're being all private_ were Shinichi's thoughts, before he realized that if they were, it would encompass him too. However, the investigation was more important, he had to prioritize.

"Ano, I'm Hijisime Fukora, and Ishimono-san is my coworker. We all just came here for a dinner meeting," the first man informed them in a nervous tone, clearly not comfortable with the idea of murder. Or just a really good actor, if he happened to be the culprit.

"I'm Hakurna Kanaye, I'm also a coworker, actually she's my partner." This man, on the other hand, was clearly more confident about the whole situation, and to Shinichi it seemed as if he was used to control.

"My name is Ishinomo Yukio, and Nikoma was my coworker and wife," claimed the last man, who looked very depressed at the death of his wife, yet managed to refrain from hysterics.

"I'm Ishimono-chan's friend, we've known each other for years. Higurashi Sakura desu ka." Higurashi-san was the only living woman in the group, and was tears were leaking from her eyes, though her voice didn't quiver much, and she didn't shake all that much from her sobs.

Megure-keibu went on with the questioning, and while Shinichi continued to listen, he learned nothing of importance. With the lack of progress, he went to see if either the forensics or the autopsy team had the answer to his inquiry. The place with the highest concentration of cyanide was probably the method of poisoning, though he was curious about why there was so much cyanide, when only a minute amount was fatal. Possibly the culprit hadn't researched very much with the excitement of planning the murder, though there was the possibility that it was actually necessary to have that much cyanide for some reason. To spread it around and make it harder to identify the source, perhaps?

"Ne autopsy-niisan, can you tell me where there was the most cyanide? Heiji-niichan said to ask you for his investigation," asked the perfect image of a helpful, innocent grade-schooler helping a detective with a mystery. Of course, appearances are often deceiving.

Hattori looked up at the mention of his name; he'd wandered over after the questioning intending to ask some very similar questions. Shinichi hadn't really noticed his approach before now, but the decided to speak up, since it would save him the trouble of reporting the answer later. As long as the autopsy person didn't notice Hattori and tell him instead, that was.

"Uh, hai, the highest concentration was on Ishimono-san's hand, especially on her right ring finger, and both index fingers and thumbs. There was also an equally large amount, if not more, on the bottom of the pizza up near the crust."

Shinichi's brows furrowed in thought, his blue eyes calculating, before he leaned over and whispered a question to the man, the reply to which was negative. No, there was none.

Hattori shot him a look, but was clearly suspecting the same thing, and what question had been asked. Shinichi nodded at him in affirmation, there was a good chance they'd just found the murder method. The only question now was how had the murderer disposed of the poison's source?

The police, meanwhile, had been conducting an investigation on where the container that had held the poison had been disposed of. There hadn't been anything in the trash cans or on the suspects' person. Their belongings lacked anything that could hold a liquid as well, though Hakurna-san had a bottle of pills in his briefcase, which were prescribed medication. That didn't mean that he hadn't hid a capsule in there, however.

"You got anything Kudo?"

Shinichi nodded, looking at Hattori who was crouching near him so they could keep from being overheard when sensitive topics and anything where Shinichi's true identity was mentioned. Especially since Ran and Kazuha-chan were still sitting nearby.

"Aa. There's just three points I don't understand. Why the poison got on the tips of her index finger and thumb, as well as why there's so much cyanide in the first place," Shinichi listed, and Hattori supplied the last one with an analytical look that showed he was as deep in thought as Shinichi.

"The last one's the motive, right? I haven't heard anything, except after you left, Ishinomo-han said something about it probably having been Hakurna-han, since they had frequent large disagreements on how to execute projects, often escalating to shouting that everyone in the area could hear. He claimed the bottle of pills was proof, but tests showed that there's no poison in there. After that, she said that he had a motive too, since everyone had heard rumors that his wife was cheating on him."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow at the revelation. It was a really good thing he was working with Hattori on this one, otherwise he might've missed that. That would teach him to skip out on police questioning, though he had to take opportunities to find out other things when they presented themselves. Whatever, it didn't really matter at this point. What mattered was that Hattori _had_told him, and now Shinichi knew that little tidbit, even if it didn't actually help him find the murderer.

"Glad I'm here to listen to the questioning Kudo? If I wasn't you'd have to just hope that that was irrelevant, even if it did contain two possible motives." _Yeah yeah, rub it in Hattori. It's not like I knew that that's what would come up, even if I really should've listened to the questioning._

"Just drop it Hattori," said Shinichi in a weary, fed-up sounding voice.

"Fine. Didja find anything out from forensics beside where the poison was?"

"No. Nothing important, as far as I could tell. I didn't find out what was in her purse or anything though, and that might be important."

Hattori looked at him with interest. "You really think the murderer might've hidden the weapon in her stuff even though it was obvious that forensics would get it all? I mean, it's possible if the weapon was hidden or inconspicuous enough, but do you really think they did it? I can't say I haven't considered it myself though. They still haven't found anything anywhere in the building, and none of the people had anything that could hold poison on them. Making an exception for Hakurna-han's pills, and frankly, he looks the most suspicious right now. I'm not sure if that's it though, something doesn't feel right about that."

"While it's true that they might not have found any traces of cyanide in the pill bottle, why would he bother doing that when it's something he obviously wasn't framed for and it only incriminates him? Whoever did this obviously thought up a reasonable method to try and get away with murder, why leave that big a whole?"

"Except he won't," Hattori said with a smirk. "The criminal won't get away with murder, because we're here. So they'll get caught."

"Right," Shinichi agreed, and Hattori's anticipation was contagious, for a grin crept onto his face. "We'll catch them. All we need to do is solve this mystery."

"And when it comes to that, we're definitely two of the best."

"What're you two talking about down there?" asked a voice from behind them in a female Osaka-accented voice. Shinichi could hear the impatience even before he turned around to see it on Kazuha-chan's face. Ran was standing next to her with a curious look on her face. _Oh shit, I'm screwed_, Shinichi had thought briefly, before Hattori answered for him, saving him from putting on an overly exaggerated "Conan" act in an attempt to stop any suspicions Ran might have from forming.

"I'm just teaching my little assistant here," Hattori ruffled Shinichi's hair, an action that was rather irksome. No matter how much he looked, and occasionally acted, like one, Kudo Shinichi was seventeen, not seven. He and Hattori were equals, and they both knew that. Even though it was necessary at the moment, Shinichi hated it when he was treated like a little kid even more by people who knew. "-the ropes. Thought he might want to have the experience for when he _grows up _and becomes a detective. Kid's sharp enough to be one." The emphasis on "grow up" had been faint, but it was there. Why did Hattori have to decide to tease him about his current form in front of Ran? Kazuha-chan too, since she'd probably mention anything overly suspicious, but, as always, Shinichi's priority was fooling Ran, much as it pained him to keep her in the dark. It was a necessary evil.

"That's good. I'm sure you'll be a great detective someday Conan-kun," Ran assured him with a smile. Something was sad about her eyes though, barely visible. She didn't want anyone to worry, and did a good job of keeping it hidden. He'd been looking for it though, and Shinichi knew that she was sad because she missed him. The seventeen year old him, her best friend. He just hoped that Kudo Shinichi could truly come back one day, for the world to know.

"I hope so Ran-neechan. What've you been talking about with Kazuha-neechan over there anyway?" Shinichi wanted to know, though they probably wouldn't tell him, especially with Hattori right there, was whether they'd been talking about him. Male's instinct was what made him want to know, that's all. Or at least, that's what he was trying to convince himself of.

"Why do you want to know Conan-kun?" inquired Kazuha-chan, confused over why a little boy would care what teenage girls talked about.

"Just curious is all. What were you talking about though? Was it the case?" Shinichi asked, a cute, if overly curious, little kid. At least, that was the image he was trying to project, but by now he'd had plenty of practice.

"Oh, we were talking about this jewelry store we want to visit after you guys leave. This is taking so long though, that if it wasn't for the fact that this is a murder scene, we'd have already left." It was against the law to leave a murder scene without the police dismissing you, and while the girls could definitely get the clearance to go if they truly wanted to, not only were the boys there, but it would be easier to sleep peacefully once they knew who the murderer was and how it had been done. Why exactly it worked like that puzzled Shinichi –wouldn't you just have nightmares about someone doing the same thing to you or whatever—but it worked. What could he do, they were women. Of course he was rather clueless, one of the only times he could get close to truly understanding them was when it concerned criminal motives, and even then . . .

However, Shinichi never really understood why criminals did such things, only occasionally, like to prevent their family from being killed or something. But then again, if they knew who the threat was, it wasn't good for blackmail. Not to mention, if that was the case, chances are the culprit would kill all his hostages anyway.

"Jewelry?" asked Hattori, and Shinichi felt something. It was a ghost of an answer in the back of his mind, so he knew, but he couldn't tell what it was. Every time he tried to grasp it, the concept would be left by itself, the solution having faded back into the depths of his mind. When he thought about it again, he got that ghost of answer that just wouldn't solidify.

But then it did. And he knew. From the look on Hattori's face, they both did. The proof would be easy enough to find, now that they knew what to look for.

Shinichi was sure that he was right. He hoped he was right too, and that he'd be able to see it if he wasn't.

"We'll be back in a minute," Hattori called, rushing out the side door to the forensics truck, Shinichi following closely in his tracks.

"Looks like they figured it out," he managed to hear Ran say, the length, or lack thereof, of his legs had left him in earshot longer.

"Well it's about time!" Kazuha-chan said impatiently, and then he was outside, right behind Hattori at the police forensics station.

When Hattori asked the forensics person to show him the contents of Ishimono-san's purse and test them for cyanide, Shinichi was brimming with anticipation. Even more when it was revealed that they were probably right. As long as they weren't missing anything, they'd just solved the case. Shinichi was sure of it however, it explained everything and nothing was amiss, even if their guess meant that some of the case had been left to chance.

"Oi Megure-keibu! The kid and I know who the culprit is. Get the suspects over here please," Hattori said, as they came close enough to the inspector that he didn't have to yell. The suspects had heard to, their reactions varying and shocked.

"Then who's the murderer?" Megure-keibu half-demanded, clearly annoyed that Shinichi and Hattori were doing the police's job for them, despite the fact that as detectives, it was perfectly acceptable for them to investigate.

Hattori answered him, cutting straight to the chase and fingering the culprit immediately. "The murderer is you, Ishimono-han!" Most of the detectives he'd seen solve cases had a fairly dramatic way of revealing the murder, often using demonstrations to prove it. Both Shinichi and Hattori revealed the solution in a similar style, like this one, even if their reasoning, manner of speech, and order of unveiling the truth were a bit different. Shinichi knew that he and Hattori didn't have the same thought patterns when it came to mysteries, but they were both able to keep pace with each other and pick up the same clues, connecting each and every one. The only two times they hadn't come to the same conclusion at the same time were first when Hattori had been even more hotheaded in the heat of competition, and when Shinichi hadn't been there in the first place and had background information no one else knew.

"I didn't do it! Why would I murder Nikoma? She was my wife! Out of all of you I have the most reason to be devastated!" Ishimono-san protested loudly, but neither Shinichi nor Hattori gave it more than fractional consideration.

"You killed her because you knew she was cheating on you. You even used the ring she'd been given by the other man to poison her, intending her to die on one of their dates, making him the prime suspect," Shinichi could tell they'd hit it, they man had paled and was no longer protesting. He'd given in.

"None of this was planned, you thought she's still be alive right now. If it wasn't for the fact that she forgot to take off her other ring, she would be," Shinichi said, still acting the part of Edogawa Conan while Hattori was there to make sure the truth got out if he didn't find a way to reveal it himself.

"For some reason, Ishimono-san put on the ring after it'd been drenched in cyanide by you, and forgot she had it on, indicating that she's probably forgotten about this dinner meeting. At the start of dinner she noticed it and slipped it back into her purse, replacing it with her wedding ring from you. They even look similar, if it weren't for the poison I doubt you would've even realized. I don't know why you put on such a large amount of cyanide, but that doesn't matter.

"When she was eating her pizza, it got on the bottom crust, and that's how she got the poison in her system. She died a few seconds later, by which point she'd started eating her salad, by chance making it harder for us to find the source of the poison," Hattori dragged the truth out in the open for everyone to see, and he's stopped fighting altogether. Ishimono-san knew he'd been caught.

"Ishimono-san, why? She was your _wife_!" Higurashi-san exclaimed, voicing the thoughts of the entire group.

"You must've really hated whoever it was she was dating to do something like that, it probably would've killed them both if they'd held hands or anything next time they went out to dinner," commented a childish voice coming from Shinichi, and it was lucky that it had happened here. Not only had this allowed the culprit to be caught, but no one else had died. Ishimono-san would've known to avoid it, but the other man probably would've been killed.

Ishimono-san's eyes widened. "Yeah, I hated him and she knew it. I don't know what I was doing, but I did it and then once I was done I couldn't make myself get rid of the poison. I meant for him to die with her, they obviously loved each other, so they could be happy together in Hell." Despite the wording used, Ishimono-san sounded resigned, like he was giving up. Just waiting for the police to arrest him, which of course they did.

"I think that's the first time I saw a case where so much had just been chance," Shinichi muttered as they walked back over to the booth where Ran and Kazuha-chan were sitting down, ignoring the police wrapping up the case behind them.

"Took you long enough, aho," Kazuha-chan said, clearly extra resentful for some reason. Even if she was impatient about it, normally she wouldn't have made this many annoyed comments. Also, something about the "aho" seemed off, though he couldn't quite pinpoint it. Shinichi shook his head figuring he must have been imagining it or it was just the fact that she secretly loved Hattori.

"Sorry. Anyway, the kid and I are going back, we'll leave you girls to your shopping. Ja ne!" Hattori bid them sayonara as the too left, hearing their goodbyes returned.

----

As the two meitantei left, there was a pair of eyes watching them hard, tracking their every movement. Eyes that knew too much, knew things they hadn't been told, knowledge they hadn't been entrusted with and had had to find things out on their own, as annoying and hard as it sometimes was. Eyes that held anger and annoyance, among other things, within them, as they watched the boys leave the restaurant and start down the street. The one who was the teen he appeared to be was mostly ignored, the eyes instead focusing in on the little boy almost the whole time.

They were eyes that knew things that, if the boy found out, definitely wouldn't want their owner knowing. But the person knew anyway, and knowledge is the one thing that can't be stolen. Even if a person could be fooled into thinking otherwise, the fact that they once thought that was permanent. This person, these eyes, knew for sure. There would be no convincing their owner of the contrary, as it was too late.

The onlooker watching the two boys knew.

Then that person got up and simply walked out a few seconds later, leaving behind the fuss of the crime scene, for the most part ignoring it. Departing only seconds later, their eyes were still on the boy, but he was too absorbed in conversation to notice it. Their owner walked away in the opposite direction, and didn't stare at Kudo Shinichi's shrunken form again that night, for that's who it really was. No matter how young he appeared, that was a façade, and the observer knew it.

* * *

Betcha thought I was going to do a Kid heist when they went to the gem exhibit. You don't have to lie about it.

Anyway, the plot thickens. Someone knows Shinichi is Conan, and a completely unrelated topic, whose were the second thoughts at the beginning, and what did they decide on? Yes, the answer is important to the story.

Please tell me you're not too lazy to hit the little button in the corner of the screen and type a few words of praise, constructive criticism, or whatever. Especially since it could help improve your reading experience with this story. Are you seriously that lazy? So please review.


	3. Underneath

And the next chapter is here! Behold it and be awed! Anyway, please enjoy. Sorry I took so long, I just figured out that you can't run a Microsoft Word 2007 document on Word 2003, which is what my school's computers use. The hard way. So there's a little bit of advice for you.

Disclaimer: If I owned either series, Aoko would show up at a Kid heist.

How about giving me a review on this for a brithday present? No, it's seriously my birthday. Well, yesterday was. So, how about that present, hmm?

_

* * *

_

_Jump._

_Dodge left._

_Duck between the desks._

_Jump slightly to the right._

_Use next desk to do a handstand on, turn handstand into a round off._

_Duck down._

_Jump up and to the left._

_Do a back flip._

_Get on desk behind Aoko, reach over and flip her skirt._

"Oh, the black lacy ones. I like those," Kaito commented as he danced through their morning routine of dodging Aoko's mop.

_Quickly get on desk to the right._

_Hang on ceiling._

_Vanish into thin air; take Hakuba's newspaper with me._

"Kuroba, I was reading that!" Hakuba yelled, and when Kaito reappeared at the front of the room, he was hit on the back of the head by Aoko's mop in seconds.

She's been hitting Kaito more often lately, his dodging failing almost frequently. Frequently as in once every five or so chases, but still. Kaito wasn't really sure why he kept letting Aoko hit him, though sometimes she genuinely managed it without his consent.

Part of it might've been Kid. Kaito knew he was starting to like Aoko; they'd been friends for years. He also knew that she hated Kaitou Kid, and in a way that was good. She attempted to yell or knock some sense into him when he started getting too cocky. Not that it usually worked, but hey, it was the thought that counted.

They were best friends, and there was a lot Kaito liked about her. He knew that they couldn't be together while he was still Kid though, and wasn't sure they ever would be. Honestly, Kaito doubted that Aoko shared his feelings. She hated Kaitou Kid, yet was best friends with Kuroba Kaito. Ironic, wasn't it?

If she knew, she's hate him too. Aoko would probably feel betrayed, though in essence that's what he was doing to her, in a way. Not to mention that she'd tell her dad and give Hakuba proof, leading to his arrest.

It didn't really matter though, Kaito was perfectly happy to spend time with Aoko teasing her, or like a best friend. Really, chances were that that was all they'd ever be. He could tease her, go on about Kid's superiority over the police force, flip her skirt, irritate her, get in mop chases, but they were still spending time together as best friends who liked annoying or beating the heck out of each other. That was the way it worked, and that was the way things would have to stay.

"Sorry Hakuba, but I wanted to look at some of the articles. Ooh, there's a new emerald at the Tokyo City Museum, I wonder if Kid will steal it!" Kaito said mockingly, though that wasn't how it sounded. It sounded more eager than anything else. After all, openly mocking Hakuba would only give more grounds for suspicion. Not that the blonde could really get much more suspicious.

Kaito looked up to see that Hakuba was shooting him an unamused glare that seemed to say "You would know the answer to that Kuroba". Or Hakuba was just using the glare to demand the paper back and he was over-analyzing things.

"Kuroba, just give me the paper back. I'm sure you have your own copy tucked away somewhere in your uniform, why don't you just read that one?"

"Well," Kaito replied as another newspaper appeared in his hand in a shower of confetti, Hakuba's copy tucked under his arm. "You have a different edition. And I like the Tokyo Post much better than the Ekoda City Times, there's so much more news. I like yours better," Kaito said in a manner that sounded more cheerful than anything, showing no regret whatsoever. He then made his own newspaper disappear again before he opened Hakuba's and started reading more.

"No you're not Kuroba."

"Will you two drop it? Kaito, give Hakuba-kun his newspaper back right now," Aoko demanded, interrupting Kaito before he could even start a reply.

"Aw Aoko, you're no fun," Kaito complained, though he obeyed since he really wasn't in the mood for another mop chase.

"Thank you Nakamori-chan, that was much appreciated," Hakuba said, before sitting back down and absorbing himself in his newspaper again. _Interesting, what's Hakuba looking at the Economy section for? Wait a minute . . . something looks funny about that paper._Kaito glanced at it again from where he stood across the room. _Nah, I'm just being paranoid. Besides, if Hakuba were looking at police reports on the Kid heists he missed, he'd just bring them out and read them. He might try to hide them from me but still, that guy hates deception._

"You know, I think the teacher's late. Class was supposed to start five minutes ago," Keiko-chan commented to Aoko, stating the obvious.

Someone knocked on the classroom door, and in came a kid with a message from the office after a moment, who looked concerned by the lack of a teacher. He then decided it wasn't his problem, after remembering this was the class with the infamous prankster Kuroba Kaito.

"Ano, I have a message for Hakuba-san from the office," he stated and waited for a minute before Hakuba realized the note was for him and walked over to get it. Kaito was rather amused by how inattentive the half-Brit was being, and half curious and worried about why he was acting that way.

"Arigato," he heard Hakuba reply, walking back over to his seat and unfolding the note.

"What is it Hakuba-kun," Aoko asked him as Kaito tried to make it unnoticeable that he was attempting to look over Hakuba's shoulder himself.

Damn it, Hakuba had noticed him. That was a funny glance though; Kaito realized this could be interesting. "It's a note from Division Two of the police force. Seems Kaitou Kid has delivered another heist note and, as per my request, I was sent a copy this time."

_Didn't know Hakuba was getting these directly like that. Wait a sec. . . ._"Since when does Nakamori-keibu admit that you're an asset at all, let alone send you the heist notes at your request?" Kaito asked, voicing his thoughts.

Hakuba shot him an amused look and replied, "Who said I got this from Nakamori-keibu? I made the request to his assistant, who actually acknowledges that I've stopped Kaitou Kid from getting away with the target before." So that was the reason for that half-smug-amused look that was also actually part mischievous –rather out of character, maybe there had been something funny in Hakuba's morning tea?– and cunning, trying to catch Kaito in the act of slipping up.

It was annoying. Despite the fact that he had alibis for several heists and was nothing more than one on a list of suspects, Hakuba was still confident in his –admittedly accurate- belief that Kaito was Kid. The second Kid, to be precise, since the only way Kaito could pull off having been Kid both before and after the hiatus was if he ended up in the same situation as Tantei-kun. One he'd much rather avoid, and one that Hakuba didn't even suspect. Since it was so far out of the realm of logic as they knew it, Kaito knew Hakuba would never even begin to suspect something like that. Still, it would be amusing to hear the police's reaction to such a theory.

"What does it say? I bet even if you do decipher it Kid will get away with the jewel again though."

Kaito promptly got whacked with a mop by Aoko for making a comment so unsupportive of the police and their classmate. _Ouch, she got a solid hit in. Heh, caught me by surprise there. What's she so mad about though?_

The Look Hakuba was shooting him for a split second clearly said "We both know you know perfectly well what it says, Kid." He read it anyway, probably to keep up the little act and for the benefit of Aoko. It was weird really, Hakuba didn't accuse him of being Kaitou Kid around Aoko, and Kaito didn't try to actually bait him as himself, which would be around Aoko. Or at least, bait him in ways that would support Hakuba's conclusion about his identity. Kaito thought that might be because they both cared greatly for Aoko and Hakuba knew how much she hated Kid. Not only did he not want to face her possible wrath for implying that her best friend was the man she hated most in the world, but he didn't want to make her upset. Or worse, hurt her if she got too suspicious and managed to connect some pieces. Almost entirely nonexistent pieces that you'd probably have to be a professional detective to notice, but still there. A detective like Kudo or Hakuba, both of which had found him out, regardless of whether they had confirmation. Hakuba still knew, as if he did have it.

"'On the seventeenth of March, I will come to take that which glimmers brilliantly, hiding on the ocean's horizon. The goddess of the sky will then jubilantly rejoice, for to her it is only right that I have gotten away again, escaping on her winds towards the night's full Luna.' That's funny; he put a lot of goddesses in this one."

_Of course I did, after all, not to jinx myself, but the goddess of luck seems to shine on me. Even I didn't mention her directly, she still deserved some tribute, _Kaito thought with a mental grin.

"What does it mean?" Aoko asked, her curiosity apparently overcoming her hatred of Kid long enough to figure out what was going on. Personally, Kaito knew it wouldn't last. Aoko's hatred of his night persona was both something Kaito liked and regretted about her. Regretted because it meant he had to keep secrets from her, since there was no way she'd forgive him, and happy because it was another thing that made her unique.

"I don't know. I do, however, intend to spend English class working on it. I know there must be some significance in the fact that Kid used the name of the Roman moon goddess instead of simply putting in the word 'moon'. The seventeenth of March, that's a bit weird since it's May, so my guess is it has something to do with St. Patrick's Day. Since the date is already on here, two days from now, where it says the moon is full, that could signify anything from the color green, to leprechauns, to the time. Since as far as I can see there's no other indication of time, it's probably the latter. It might just plain be the name, but that'd be too easy. I'd have to look into it more to know for sure though."

Kaito blinked. Sure, Hakuba was a meitantei, but that much after only a minute or less of thought about the message he managed to get that much out of it? Amazing. Even if some of it was pure, unconfirmed speculation, every part he'd mentioned of the note had at least one of the aspects correct. He'd have to remember not to underestimate any of the three kokosei meitantei, including that Osaka detective Hattori he'd barely met. Despite the time he'd impersonated Hakuba during the case where that old, blind guy was killing off detectives, he never really got to know him. That was interesting though. Much his hatred of the deaths that had already occurred at the hands of that man had distracted him.

"Kaitou Kid won't get away with this! My dad and the police will stop him!" Aoko proclaimed angrily with a wave of further fury to unleash upon anyone who dared challenge that opinion. While Kaito personally disagreed, he didn't want to face her that angry at him. Angry and annoyed were fine, but for some reason today she was more agitated than usual.

"I wonder where Akoko-chan is though," Keiko-chan said in an effort to distract Aoko. Thankfully it was successful, and Aoko blinked, completely forgetting her anger so she could be confused over where the sorceress had gone.

"She probably just has a cold," Kaito said, though inside he was wondering if she actually could get sick in the first place. She was weird enough to somehow be immune, what with that magic of hers. Kaito had no doubt that her magic was real, unlike his own craft. He only practiced the art of illusions, not sorcery.

If his magic was real Snake would be in jail right now and Pandora would be crushed, its dust scattered at the bottom of the Pacific where no one would be able to kill over it. Ever.

No point in wishing for the impossible though. In fact, Koizumi probably didn't even know what the Syndicate was. He had no doubt she knew it existed, with all her mystical warnings about when he was in danger and how she'd found out he was Kid in the first place. She seemed to get her messages in riddles though, and he didn't think she knew everything, or even bothered to try and find out.

"Sorry I'm late class. Please sit down," called their sensei as she came in. _Took her awhile, she's over half an hour late. Wonder what kept her,_Kaito thought, giving his maniacal Kid smirk as he remembered the genius prank he'd set up in her mailbox. Had she been insistent on changing and getting cleaned up, that would be it.

----------------------

_Now then, let's make sure that letter gets to Kudo, ne?_Kaito was currently in the costume of Hakane-san's son and something of an adviser, intending to convince him to take the message to Detective Mouri the Incompetent. Not that he'd address the man out loud as anything but Sleeping Kogoro for the time being, but it was true. The brains behind the detective were all Kudo. The guy was too stupid to even realize that he was unconscious during all of those deduction shows, even if Kaito had only seen one or two while he'd been spying on Kudo.

After all, it would be absurd for him to be outwitted by a seven-year-old without getting curious. Anyone who was that much of a rival, he did respect grudgingly.

Frankly, an idiot would realize that there was something fishy about a little kid stopping Kaitou Kid from stealing his target if they were in his position. Hell, even Mouri-san would probably realize something was up. Maybe. After all, the man was a big enough idiot that he wasn't suspicious of Edogawa Conan. Even his teenage daughter was smarter than him. Not that it was hard to be. Kaito thought Mouri-chan was lucky that she took after her mom in almost all respects.

"I really think we should take the case to Sleeping Kogoro-san. He works okay with Nakamori-keibu, the man in charge of catching Kaitou Kid, and he's a genius when it comes to murders. No one's died at the fault of Kid so far, but the man's still competent enough to put a major wrench in his plans." _Like hell,_Kaito thought, _but if it's gonna convince you, I might as well. Masks often have the unfortunate requirement of dropping you pride._ _Otherwise someone's not gonna believe, cause you won't be completely in character._

"Very well. Thank you for the advice. I'll go in an hour," the older man replied. _And score. No way Kudo's not gonna get the note, I know perfectly well that they don't have plans for the rest of the day._Kaito didn't mull over the fact that he could be accused of being a stalker by someone with all the time he spent wither watching or checking up on his rivals. Especially that period of time where he'd been studying tantei-kun closely, trying to figure out how the hell a grade schooler who didn't even come up to his waist could've outsmarted the world's best thief. He's surpassed the skills of adults, detectives and police alike. Naturally it'd been suspicious and reason for a more thorough investigation.

Kaito did, however, realize that he thought about Kudo an awful lot. It didn't used to be like that though. He just figured he was still getting over the surprise of having his identity unveiled. Also, they were rivals, like he and Hakuba were. Both certainly seemed to have a bit of a sadistic streak when it came to handling him. Especially where either foiling him dramatically or it concerned Mouri-chan or Aoko. Vaguely, he wondered if all detectives had an overprotective streak when it came to those they cared about that they hardly ever showed. Not that he was in any position to talk, he had one too.

----------------

"So Mouri-sensei, will you take the case? I heard you've protected jewels from Kaitou Kid before, and I really can't afford for any of my gems to be stolen. I know the police didn't figure out what he was after yet, but considering he likes large gems it's probably the Saint of Tears or the Sea Dragon. Both are displayed in my private collection and very expensive, not to mention important to me. I'd greatly appreciate your help." Kaito sighed, amazed that through the whole conversation so far, the man had yet to say please. Even if he was being polite, it was kind of stupid that he had that much pride. Kaito knew it was all a matter of rank and ego causing that, he'd done enough research before that last masquerade.

He really wished he had put a video camera on his dove too, instead of just a microphone. Of course, that would be too heavy. The only model he could use was three hundred fifty dollars and not on the market for three weeks. Kaito was sure, however, that there was a little boy studying the note on the coffee table, copying it down and attempting to decipher it.

_This'll be an interesting heist. It'll be my first time stealing with both tantei-kun and Hakuba there._ _I've even prepared an interesting new trick for my rivals._

"Of course! I will show Kaitou Kid that the great Mouri Kogoro-sama is infinitely superior to him by catching him once and for all!" Kaito couldn't help but chuckle at that, Mouri-san's head was more than a little over-inflated.

Noticing a window that would suffice as a mirror so he could see into the office, Kaito moved a few feet forward and to the left, proceeding to watch the scene as well as listen to it through his earphone. People never seemed to look in high places, but he really didn't want to have Kudo see him watching. This was even more likely since Kaito had mentioned this heist at their confrontation.

Not that "confrontation" was really a good word for what it was, with Kudo coming out and admittedly scaring the heck out of him. Only for a moment or two though. Still, it was one of the times Kaito was thanking kami he knew Poker Face while being annoyed that the chibi tantei was managing to make it almost crack again.

Kaitou Kid's mask was, for the most part, flawless. The only people who could boast having ever cracked it were Hakuba, Kudo, and since that incident at the heist two weeks ago, Aoko.

After those three, Poker Face was hardest to keep up when someone died. Especially an innocent. Kaito wasn't sure if he was capable of even twitching with regret if one of _them_ were to die, only the grossness of death itself.

Really, Kaito feared death. Especially that of those around him, often more theirs than his own. It made sense really; a life was the only thing Kaito couldn't steal back. And there weren't even any guards, locks, or security systems to keep him out. Death was the end.

Back in the room however, Kaito saw Mouri-san agree on an amount of money to charge, and Kudo roll his eyes at the man's bragging. Odd, Mouri-chan looked a bit weird about it too. Maybe annoyed or embarrassed?

Kudo, however, had a look of deep concentration on his face, staring at the copy of the heist note he'd made when Mouri-san and Mouri-chan weren't looking so he wouldn't get yelled at. While thinking Kaito had only been half-listening to what they'd figured out, but the conclusion were mostly the same as what Hakuba had said.

Only they had the owner's help, and Kaito had heard that Kudo had concluded, subtly hinting to Mouri-san about it, that the target was indeed the Saint of Tears sapphire gemstone. Naturally, that had been correct. Unless he was mistaken, Hakuba knew as well, having used his grandfather's program that afternoon to look at the man's collection. At the very least, the heist would be interesting.

It couldn't end up being _that_much more difficult though, it wasn't like Kudo and Hakuba would be working together really, though they might share a thought or two with everyone that the other would here. The reason was simple. Kudo couldn't risk Hakuba finding him out, and Hakuba felt too superior to listen to the ideas of a child.

Not to say it wouldn't be difficult though. Kaito relished the challenge from his rivals. After all, without them, heists wouldn't be as fun or as challenging. Sure, nothing else he'd ever experienced had matched the thrill and adrenaline set off by heists. Dodging cops, pulling off magic tricks, confusing and amazing the crowd, and flying off into the night on his hang glider were all unmatchably exciting. However, even heists could get boring with Nakamori in charge of everyone, eventually becoming monotonous and repetitive.

The teenage detectives though, they brought in a whole new challenge every time, puzzling out all his tricks. As annoying as it got sometimes, it made things more fun and kept him sharper. That was a good thing too, Kaito knew he'd have to face the Syndicate again eventually, and if he were in anything but top performance, he'd end up dead.

Mostly though, he just liked their presence because they made things more challenging. And for Kaito, the extra challenge made things even more fun.

There was nothing that could compare to pulling off a trick like his midair walk or teleportation, tricks that should be inhuman miracles. Even if they were revealed in the end, the rush of the wind in the sky where he stood, the roaring of the crowd, the yelling of the police and cursing of Nakamori, they all added to the excitement. Knowing he was able to single-handedly shock the world.

Even if he sometimes needed Jii's help to do it.

They were leaving now, going to discuss some plan elsewhere. Kaito didn't worry. He was fine with what he knew, so with a smirk he brought his pigeon to his shoulder, walked down to the street and went home, looking forward to the heist two days hence.

-------------------------

Kudo Shinichi was excited in a way.

In two days was the heist Kid had mentioned, and he'd kept his word. The notice and a request for help had arrived at the Mouri Detective Agency, and Shinichi idly wondered how Kid had arranged that, since he knew it was really the jewel's owner. It had to be. He decided he probably didn't care or want to know however.

Shinichi also decided he should probably be calling the thief "Kuroba", for that was his name. It'd taken awhile to figure that out, and at one point he'd actually stopped trying, in honor of a fair match.

Once he found out that Kaitou Kid was being pursued by the Black Organization however, he'd had no choice. The Organization was huge, and Shinichi could use every trustworthy ally he could get. Also, with the snipers that had shot at Kid before that were mentioned in the news, he was worried. Shinichi knew from experience that it was incredibly hard to dodge a bullet, having both seen others hit, and taken some bullets himself.

Research had shown that the chance of a gunman hitting someone over three meters away who was running away in an erratic zigzag pattern was only four in one hundred. Moving targets were hard to hit when they were trying to get away, and it was even less likely that they'd hit a vital spot. But if there were any snipers out there good enough to make most of those shots, chances are at least one was in the Black Organization. No, there would definitely be one in the Black Organization.

It had turned out rather well. He and Kuroba now had an alliance, one that would probably prove beneficial. He did wonder, however, about how well Kuroba could openly work with a group of detectives about this. In the past when helping, he'd been hiding in disguise, giving subtle hints and nudging people along. Sometimes he knew what was going on before Shinichi did at a crime, simply because his knowledge was the reason he was there.

That didn't mean that Kuroba was a better detective. If they were at a random crime scene, Shinichi or Hattori would figure it out first. Even if a magician's skills could be useful, that was fact.

_Let's see, the seventeen of March obviously refers to Saint Patrick's Day, and since the two choices are the Saint of Tears sapphire and the Sea Dragon opal, he was inclined to think it was the first. Yes, you could take the meanings deeper, but Kid's heist notes usually only require one level of decoding. With how his mind probably works, it'd be next to impossible to track him if they needed more. Kuroba wants an audience for logical as reasons, as well as the fact that he enjoys it more, though he didn't say that. He's weird most of the time. All the times I've seen him really. _Shinichi mused, trying to puzzle out the heist note and see its true meaning clearly in his mind.

_Anyway, after that there's the '__I will come to take that which glimmers, hiding in the snow on the ocean's horizon.' Ocean could be blue, vast, or reflection of the sky. Or reflection of the thief, but the message clearly wasn't just meant for me. It's probably blue, which would mean sapphire or aquamarine. Since the only aquamarine gemstone in Hakane-san's collection was too small to be Pandora, and therefore the target, it would be sapphire. Once again, that would point to the Saint of Tears._

Unfortunately though, that wasn't everything. It'd be too easy if it was. _I still need the time. There's also something significant about the fact that he used "Luna" to refer to the moon, since that's the name of the Roman goddess of the moon. Doesn't make sense grammatically either, but since he says that it'll be a full moon, the heist will be the day after tomorrow._

_Luna probably has some connection to the time, since that's all that's left. When he mentions the sky goddess without a name, I'd bet money Kuroba's trying to indicate he'll fly there on his hang glider. All the capital letters in this are done funny, so it's probably the L that he's pointing out. Let's see, all the words with an L in them are . . . will, glimmers, brilliantly, will again, jubilantly, and full. Full was already used, and I think glimmers and brilliantly are part of the sapphire clue. Since "will" was repeated, that's probably not it, leaving jubilantly._

Shinichi continued thinking at an incredibly fast pace, on a roll and almost done with his reasoning that would unveil the final message. _The only L in the root word is in the first half, to the left. Wait a second! That mnemonic! Naru hodo, the L is from the trick kids sometimes use to determine directions. The hand that makes the L is left, and the one that's backward is right. He meant a backwards L on the clock face at nine o'clock._

Shinichi smirked, and as Kazuha-chan called what Hattori did when solving a case, "shone". He knew the message. "Kid will appear to steal the Saint of Tears sapphire from Hakane-san's private collection at nine pm the day after tomorrow, and will fly to the heist on his hang glider." Shinichi said aloud, though no one was around to hear. He'd solved the riddle, so he snuck back to where Ran and the others were to examine the layout of the room where the Saint of Tears was displayed.

He whole time he was smirking with the sense of achievement that solving the riddle had brought, even though that was only the start of the heist to come. Shinichi was anxious; he wanted a break from all the death. There were almost never any fatalities at Kaitou Kid heists, something Shinichi planned to take full advantage of. His death toll was high, and it was depressing. He needed to have some good, clean fun that he could really enjoy in solving a challenging case without the pressure of a murderer in their midst, the fact that he would have to stop the murderer from getting away with it and bring them to justice.

"Conan-kun, what're you so happy about?" Ran asked, startling Shinichi out of his train of thought.

"Oh nothing Ran-neechan. I was just thinking about this holiday we have back in America on March seventeenth, like the day Kid mentioned. It's called Saint Patrick's Day. Have you ever celebrated St. Patrick's Day Ran-neechan?" Shinichi asked in the image of her young charge, a cute little seven year old, mystery loving boy. Of course he knew the answer though; it was just more to give her the hint. Ran knew what St. Patrick's Day was, along with some of the traditions, but she'd never actually celebrated it.

"No I haven't Conan-kun. That's cool though, I haven't thought about Saint Patrick's Day in awhile," said Ran, before realizing and turning around to tell her dad and Inspector Nakamori something. "I think I know what Kid's after! March seventeenth is Saint Patrick's Day, so that should confirm that Kid is after the Saint of Tears. Especially with all those lines about the ocean and night sky, which are both sapphire blue."

"That's it! Hakane-san, we need to put security in a position to guard the Saint of Tears from Kaitou Kid. We'll definitely catch him tonight!" Nakamori-keibu proclaimed, his thoughts echoed by Mouri-ojisan. Ran looked happy she'd been able to help.

There was another reason Shinichi was looking forward to the heist so much. For a pursuer of justice, death is always worse when you have blood on your hands. That's another reason he catches criminals. To stop more people from dying and to stop the criminals that occasionally tried to commit suicide, and keep them in the world of the living.

Shinichi was more of an idealist than he was realistic sometimes, but now he could afford to be. It didn't mean he couldn't see past the illusions his own mind created to try and protect himself from the truth.

He'd caught multiple criminals in his career that had killed themselves because they were caught. Sometimes people had died because he'd been too slow to figure everything out and gather the evidence. That was even worse. Actually, Shinichi also had the blood of a Black Organization member on his hands. He'd ended up forcing the man to commit suicide to avoid being taken into custody. That was _their_ policy. Since they would all get the death sentence if all their crimes were found out anyway, they killed themselves when capture was inevitable.

Even though it was all indirect, it was still partially caused by him. A single flap of a butterfly's wings can cause a huge hurricane on the other side of the world, it was like that. Only Shinichi was closer to the problem than that.

One time, when Shinichi was still in his normal body, he'd mentioned it to Ran. That had been the first time a criminal had committed suicide when caught, and only a week and a half after someone had died only ten minutes before he'd solved the case, and he'd already had all the necessary facts. If only he'd seen it sooner, he could've saved that girl. She was only eighteen when she was killed, and the culprit's second victim. Her and so many others, they could've had such great, long lives ahead of them. His mistakes and slowness had delayed the culprit's capture long enough for them to die.

When he'd mentioned it to Ran, she'd promptly called him an idiot and hit him over the head to get him to "cheer up and get his brain working again." Why that would work, he wasn't sure, but it did snap him out of those thoughts.

"You couldn't have known she'd be killed last week. You managed to get the man, that's what matters. As for the case earlier, no one should commit suicide ever, but in a way it's his decision. It wasn't even you who tried to stop him, it was the police. And don't give me that, you're fourteen! How are you supposed to stop an armed, grown man from committing suicide by yourself? Their deaths aren't your fault. It's probably going to happen again in the future, so if you want to be a detective, start thinking again and get it through your thick head that it wasn't your fault! There is no blood on your hands! You're just the mystery-otaku Shinichi!" Ran had lectured, trying to shake some sense into him. It'd worked. Shinichi knew she was right, and she believed he was innocent with all her heart. No one had blamed him at that point, though they had by now. It wasn't his fault.

Still, somewhere deep, deep down, a small part of him wanted to believe it was, for some insane reason. He didn't know why, it just worked liked that. He hadn't shown that at all when he was accused of being at fault for deaths. He knew Ran was right, but as much as he tried to hold on to that, sometimes it failed.

Maybe he should mention this next time he called Ran as Shinichi so she could yell some sense into him again, and make him feel better about the darker aspects of both himself and his job.

. . . He needed to mentally rephrase that. It sounded as if he was using her. Friends just help friends. It wasn't as if Shinichi hadn't talked some sense into her about stuff before, though it usually didn't have much to do with murders.

The room was secure enough at first glance. Though he hadn't been able to analyze things while so deep in thought, he could still make a layman's observation.

If only he were in his own body though, he could make sure they installed grates at all the junctions in the ventilation systems tomorrow, and have all the ways in under surveillance tapes so they'd know if Kuroba had gone in. Also, the jewel wouldn't be displayed on the fourth floor, but the second where the height was great enough for extra security measures and to make jumping down dangerous, but low enough to make Kuroba's hang glider useless. The guards would also be more organized, and they'd have men posted on the roof to look out for Kid.

Nakamori didn't believe it when Hakuba had told him that Kid would probably be flying in. The idiot, in a way Suzuki-san, that old guy obsessed with being in the papers, could be smarter than Nakamori. Then again, he had a team of professionals to help him plan things out. Saying the man was that smart would be giving him way too much credit.

The security was a good enough base that he didn't think he'd have to worry about that. No, that wasn't true, but he still couldn't do anything about it. All Shinichi could do was add in a few extra surprises for Kuroba. Hopefully those would be what caught him.

From the look of it, Hakuba was thinking something similar, though he was focusing on increasing security around the gem. Bullet proof case sealed with some sort of superglue. Sure, the case could be cut off the pedestal if someone took a razor to the glue, but Kid probably wouldn't have time to do that. Still, it'd be interesting to see Kuroba try.

Not that Shinichi didn't think that Kuroba would find some way to get the gem regardless. There was no way he wouldn't, but if Shinichi had anything to say about it, he wouldn't. Or at least, he'd be forced to give it up before he could leave, effectively making the heist a failure on Kuroba's part.

Possibly. Shinichi really had no clue what went on in the magician thief's head, so that might just have been a guess. For all he knew, Kuroba had another miracle to pull off.

------------------------

"Everyone, get in your positions! We will catch Kaitou Kid tonight, but only if you idiots get off your lazy asses and try!" Nakamori was yelling. Honestly, that man had quite the vocabulary.

"This will definitely be interesting. Let's see if you're up to the challenge K—" Shinichi heard Hakuba mutter, but whatever he was going to say was cut off by Nakamori dismissing his men, who all ran off at once so they weren't yelled at.

"Kaitou Kid should be here in five minutes! Remember, don't let anyone suspicious in!" Shinichi rolled his eyes. As if Kuroba would be seen as suspicious, whatever disguise he'd used. Probably some random cop, most of his disguises were of someone involved but not overly important. The only exception seemed to be the one time the thief had donned the "mask" of Kudo Shinichi. Himself. It had been very annoying, especially seeing as Ran was there.

_I've only got five minutes to do this, I'd better get started,_Shinichi thought as he ran off to set his plan in motion. Still, despite his excitement, he could still barely feel the eyes of another on him. _Kid maybe?_It didn't really matter though, as long as no murders happened here. If it had been Kuroba staring at him, then he'd see the thief soon enough anyway.

_Dammit though, I can't run fast enough. Maybe I should've taken Hattori up on his offer. It doesn't matter though, I can do this. I'm not going to lose to Kid. In all likelihood, it'll be a tie again._ _Doesn't mean I'm not going to try to win, even if I'm going to help him get away in the end._

-------------------

Kaitou Kid landed on the roof of the building, closing the white hang glider that served as the wings he'd used to get there. Glancing around the roof, he must've been satisfied that he was alone, for he smirked confidently and walked toward the door.

That proved not to be so, as his spectator watched with a smirk as Kid disguised himself as an officer and walked in the building through the door. The night wasn't dark due to the brightness of the Tokyo area, the lights of the city brightening up the night into something close to a never ending day.

Still, Kuroba probably considered it dramatic enough for a Kid heist.

Once Kid was inside the building, the person hurried to setup his traps, some designed to capture the thief, others merely embarrassing. After all, he figured that if his adversary was going to try and humiliate people, he should get a taste of his own medicine.

Of course, the traps weren't the main part of his plan. The most important part was obviously the confrontation. After all, it would be incredibly hard for any person to catch the Magician Under the Moonlight, even if he was in his civilian clothes. Now though, when he came in the night to steal a gem and amaze Japan, he was prepared for everything.

Kuroba had his card gun, spare cards, both normal and metal-edged, smoke bombs, flash grenades, knock out gas, at least one change of clothes and masks, and any other miscellaneous objects he needed to pull off whatever tricks he had planned hidden on his person. In a way it was awe-inspiring that he managed to stuff all his supplies under there, and no one could ever tell. His entire stock of trick supplies, and of course, his hang glider for escape, tucked into some mechanism under that cape of his.

But sometimes, no matter how well prepared someone is, their loss is inevitable. Tonight wasn't like that by far, but the figure hoped that the end result would be more or less the same.

-----------------

_Okay, where are Kudo and Hakuba? I_ know _that they'll both have something extra special planned to keep me from stealing the Saint of Tears. Not that anything's going to stop me, but still, it's a bit unnerving. I_ know _for a_ fact _that they're both here, so why the hell don't I at least see Hakuba? Tantei-kun I could understand, stuck as a little kid he can't work with the police, and it isn't as if this is one of the challenges from that Suzuki-ojisan. I think he's a bit insane, but that's off topic. He's not here. The people who_ are _here, that I_ do _need to worry about, are Hakuba and Kudo. They're the only real threats this time, unless of course Snake and his goons decided to show up._

Kaito paused as he noticed what his last thought had been before mentally adding, _But I really,_ really _hope they don't show up. Hell, they'd better not show up, I'll find some way to drag Nakamori and the rest of the taskforce over them this time._

The Syndicate would be just about the worst thing that could happen right now. They were the worst criminals Kaito had ever heard of besides those people briefly mentioned on the news in 2001 that had killed thousands in the USA.

In all likelihood, the only thing that prevented _them_from becoming that bad was the fact that they'd be caught if they tried to work out in the open. From what Kudo had explained, the FBI and CIA were both after _them_, so surely there were government organizations in other countries where they operated that were pursuing _them_, especially Japan. Not that Kaito had ever heard of anything, and hopefully that meant that whoever it was was doing their job. Not that the Japanese government had absolutely no idea of the Black Organization's existence. That would be _really_ bad.

Kaito walked through the halls, keeping a close eye out for anyone who might see him. There weren't any officers on this floor, something that seemed really suspicious. However, he dismissed that thought, since the taskforce's lack of diligence just made his job easier. Though he did miss the audience.

Following his mental copy of the building's plan's Kaito turned right and walked across the large room he had entered, going right down the stairwell just in front of him.

Five levels down would suffice, and then he'd have to slip in with the guards. Really, Kaito was astounded that he hadn't run into anyone so far.

As he walked down the stairs as quietly as possible, Kaito's mental clock was ticking down the seconds. It was accurate with his watch last time he'd checked, and though he still had over a minute till nine o'clock, if he didn't count down the seconds, he'd be off, and possibly late. That would ruin his reputation as a kaitou, something he wasn't willing to do.

Plus, it was more dramatic if he counted down the seconds. As a magician, being dramatic was highly important to Kaito, even if it was only in his own head.

Ducking around the corner, Kaito slipped in at the back of a group of guards that was heading, since Hakuba had apparently convinced Nakamori to do a rotation. Rather stupid really, that just made it even easier for Kaito to steal the gem.

He just hoped that Hakuba wasn't planning on him taking advantage of the rotations, and using that to trap him.

That would make things a lot harder, since Kaito had no idea what he was going to run into, but then again, it was the challenge of heists that made them fun.

Approximately one minute until this rotation shift reached the hall with the gem, and exactly seventy-eight seconds until nine o'clock. Things were working out perfectly.

They reached the hall when the Saint of Tears was being displayed. Thirteen seconds left.

Five, four, three, two, one. Showtime.

Kaito threw down a flash grenade, and after the fraction of a second it had needed to reach a blinding amount of light, he ripped off the police uniform, to reveal his white suit. Almost simultaneously, he stripped off the mask disguising his features, stuck on his white top hat and trademark monocle and composed himself just as the light dissipated. The timing had to be perfect, a second too slow and the show would be ruined. As always however, his timing was perfect and no one would suspect a thing.

Somehow it seemed that after all this time, Nakamori still sometimes had trouble grasping that Kaito could change fast enough to pull off such disguises, and was therefore fooled. Stupid really.

"Good evening gentlemen, I'm glad to see you had the Saint of Tears all prepared for me to take," Kaito announced to the large group of over thirty guards that were assigned to that room alone.

"Damn you Kid! Get the hell down here now and stop being so damn cocky!" Nakamori-keibu yelled, unpredictable only in the fact that he's expected something with more swear words.

"But Nakamori-keibu, why would I do that? After you've gone to all this trouble to set it out for me and make sure no one else takes it, that'd just be rude."

Kaito jumped down from his perch on the display case, using his new laser toy to cut a hole in the case. He then jumped up and to the right in order to dodge a bunch of cops playing Dog Pile on the Bandit, before using the ceiling to bounce back towards the display and grab the gem through the hole with perfect timing.

The fake gem, he realized a few seconds later. _Darn it, why didn't I hear about this? It must've been Hakuba or Kudo._

_Speaking of the tantei, where the hell are they? I know for a fact they both came, so why are they waiting so long? Maybe they plan to confront me on the roof?_

_Whatever. For now I have to worry about finding the real Saint of Tears._

"Well well Nakamori-keibu, where did you get the idea of replacing the Saint of Tears with a fake? Be assured I will find the real one, as I suspect I even know where it is," Kaito said before throwing down a smoke bomb and dashing out the door, closing it quietly behind him in an attempt to confuse the cops. Of course it closed quietly despite his hurry; he wouldn't be much of a phantom thief if he couldn't do at least that.

Kaito ran up several flights of stairs and dashed out onto the roof, where he knew at least one of the detectives, if not both, would be waiting for him. It was inevitable really; the roof and the room where the target was being displayed were the only places one could guarantee Kaitou Kid would show up.

As he opened the door, a bucket of water came down on his face, one that he nearly didn't manage to dodge. But he did, only getting a small corner of his cape wet from the splash.

"Now that's a new one, usually I'm the one who does stuff like that. So, which one of you is it?" Kaito asked in a voice that made it almost seem as if he were musing aloud.

"Me, of course. Who else?" said a voice from his right, rather close to the ground and unusually high-pitched for a man.

"Ah, Tantei-kun! How nice of you to attend my performance. Though I must question why you set up something as useless as a bucket of water on the door."

The boy shrugged, coming out into the area illuminated by the light above the roof door. "I figured that if I could expect you to do something like that, why not match it? Also, I thought it would be amusing to see the great Magician Under the Moonlight drenched after falling prey to a simple child's prank."

Anyone who was listening to the conversation would wonder why exactly Kaitou Kid was talking to a seven year old like an equal, and getting the same in return. They'd also wonder what sort of little boy was that mature, knew so many big words, and how he'd caused such a confrontation.

Either one was prepared to act at any second, especially Kaito. Neither was visibly showing it, but Kaito could feel the tenseness of his limbs under the suit, though he knew that Poker Face kept anything from showing. Normally he wouldn't be so troubled, and more relaxed, they both would be. But this was different. This was the first heist, the first match between them, where they were truly equals in that they knew they were the same age, and knew the other's true identity. They both had put their trust in each other, and it was now up to them what to do with that trust.

Kaito could get Kudo killed by exposing him to the Black Organization. Kudo could have Kaito arrested by revealing his identity, and after that arrest would come only death at the hands of the syndicate.

Even if revealed, neither would give the other one away, because they both had too strong a sense of justice, and both valued human life too highly. In some part of themselves, they both knew it was safe to trust the other teen – on that point at least. Still, neither was used to this. Kaito especially, wasn't used to openly working with anyone so fully, even that time on the plane. It was natural to be worried.

Kudo was being fidgety, something highly unordinary for him. At all their other meetings, he'd been more composed than most adults that had crossed paths with Kaitou Kid. _What's he doing? _Kaito thought, before he realized and moved to the side, an anesthetic dart passing only a few inches away from his skin.

Kaito hoped that Poker Face was keeping his surprise and worry at how off-guard he'd been caught solidly under wraps. One thing you never, ever wanted to do was show your opponent that they'd gotten the better of you, that you were worried or scared at all. That was the moment you started to lose.

"A surprise attack like that wasn't nice at all Tantei-kun. Though honestly, did you think something like that would get me?"

In response, Kudo made some sort of motion with his hands again. _Did he get a new gadget? But I only see his watch on his wrists. Maybe something under the slee— _Kaito thought, before he noticed a silver gleam in the air, heading towards him fast. He barely ducked out of the way in time.

"So you got a new watch, eh Tantei-kun? I have to admit that I wasn't expecting that one, but I'm still going to win. Now if you'd kindly hand over the jewel so I can check it, I'll make my escape and return it to the police tomorrow."

"Baka," was the start of the chibi's reply. "What happened to our agreement to give it our all?" A second later, an afterthought was added. "And what makes you think I have the jewel. I figured that if you were up here, you'd have it by now."

Kaito was surprised. Sure, he'd expected it, but after it had been so long and Hakuba still hadn't shown up, he'd thought that perhaps the blonde had been caught in traffic. It wasn't as if that hadn't happened before, like on that case with Nightmare. It was silly though, the blonde was so punctual and this was an area that he knew. It was almost impossible he'd be late.

"Damn it, where'd Hakuba hide the gem," Kaito muttered under his breath, and judging by the odd, curious expression on Kudo's face, the sound hadn't carried that far, as he'd hoped.

"Well then, I'll have to send another note to the police telling them that I'll be back for the real one tomorrow. If I challenge Hakuba he'll probably bring it," Kaito stopped musing and asked the detective a direct question. "Will you show up too?"

Kudo smirked, shifting his head so that light flashed over his glasses, before covering just the bottom half-centimeter when he stopped. "Probably. It should be entertaining. I don't see why not."

"Glad to hear that. Though I wonder how we score this one, since Hakuba replaced the gem possibly hours before we arrived." It was obvious it wasn't either of them who won, but it wasn't Hakuba either, since he hadn't even shown up. Not to mention he would obviously prioritize capturing Kid over protecting a single piece of jewelry, as pretty as the pendant was.

Kudo thought for a moment before replying. "Make it a three-way tie. Hakuba and I are more or less after the same thing when it comes to you, but you obviously didn't get the gem. Even though he doesn't know about our little competition, he deserves credit."

"Aa, a three-way tie it is. Well then, Ja—" Kaito agreed, before he was cut off by a spark of motion in the corner of his eye, coming from the adjacent building. He stepped to the side as he turned around lightning quickly in order to insure his safety, and barely missed getting hit by a bullet. Someone up there had both a loaded gun and a silencer. It was undoubtedly the Men in Black.

Mentally, Kaito skimmed over the conversation to see if they'd given anything important away. He'd mentioned checking the Saint of Tears, but Snake already knew he was also after Pandora. The only things he could think of was their little game and the way he'd treated Kudo like an equal. Great. Still, why had they waited that long to shoot?

It was practically impossible, but Kaito was hoping against all hope that the shots hadn't come before now because the sniper had taken too long to figure out where they were. There was also the option that they were out of earshot, and while also highly unlikely, it'd be better than overhearing the conversation. If they hadn't heard, they might not go after Kudo. That was admittedly even more unlikely.

There were two gunshots in rapid succession this time, the bullets probably flying somewhere near them, though Kaito didn't see either. In a way, that was good. It meant neither of them had been hit.

"Run bozu, these people have guns! I don't care if your neechan's best friend would love my autograph; get the hell out of here before you get killed!" Kaito shouted as loud as he could without risking the taskforce hearing. To his knowledge the only reason they'd been undisturbed was that Nakamori-keibu was convinced that Kid was still somewhere in the room, and thoroughly looking into everything at least three times.

Kudo was surprised for a half a second, but he caught onto the ruse quickly and gave Kaito a look that said he'd better survive before running through the door. In his body, Kudo wouldn't be able to do much of anything to help since it was so dark out, and Kaito could take care of himself. He'd survived these guys before.

Also, Kudo was in more danger of being discovered, and wasn't wearing any sort of unusual disguise. He could be used for leverage, or further investigating could lead _them_to the truth and Kudo to his death.

Kaito, in the mean time, whipped out his card gun and shot at the area where the bullets seemed to be coming from, while running in a zigzag pattern to the edge of the roof. The chances of being hit like that were small, though larger than usual with the expertise of the organization's snipers.

He hurtled over the balcony at the edge of the roof and freefell as long as possible so he was blocked by the building before releasing his hang glider and going off into the night, keeping rather low. Still, a bullet pierced his glider and another winged his arm once he'd come out into the open, catching a sudden updraft.

Grimacing at the pain, Kaito tried to fly as fast as possible, knowing he couldn't risk any more shots in the heavily populated downtown Tokyo, and that there were only two hundred or so more meters until he was out of what was probably their range.

Only twenty more yards, and though it had cost him another hole in his glider, Kaito made it. He landed behind a building and merged into the crowd, intent on going home to get some well-deserved sleep. Tomorrow was a school night. _Life sucks. I need medical attention though._

So he'd stop by Jii's and possibly crash there, but probably head home. Tomorrow was going to be fun, if Hakuba noticed him cringing at all—, well, it was lucky Hakuba hadn't been there. Clutching his arm, Kaito turned the corner of the street that housed Jii's pool center and rang the bell.

"Oi, Jii? Can I have some help?"

---------------------

At the exact same moment, a figure glanced around the roof from under his hiding place. He'd been taking refuge there and seen what had transpired. Something was fishy.

A renowned criminal like Kaitou Kid respecting a seven year old that much. Treating him like they were not only the same age, but on the same intellectual level? Absurd. Something was wrong here, and the man intended to figure out what was going on.

He checked the rooftop of the next building as well as he could at night, but saw no one. The man then crept out from behind the air conditioning unit and beneath the tarp covering it, emerging onto the roof and looking around one last time before walking towards the door.

He was glad he hadn't been hit. When the sniper had started firing, he'd been in a spot with a clear view, and warning of what was to come.

In his profession, you tended to know instinctively that a glint of light running in a straight line like that, as if on an edge or a tube, was trouble. It meant that someone had a knife or a gun most of the time.

Not that he wasn't armed himself. Though he lacked a silencer, the man had been the one to fire two second set of shots, the ones that had clearly been heard. He was surprised the police hadn't started searching the roof yet. They were rather incompetent it seemed.

He'd been aiming for the sniper's arm and leg, judging the distance from where he'd seen the gun. If he'd hit, the man wouldn't be able to get away and the police would pick him up later. Since those shots, he hadn't heard a thing. Not that he was close enough to, so hopefully that just meant that whoever it was had given up and tried to avoid revealing his position.

If he'd aimed off though, there was a chance the man was even more severely injured, or dead. He hoped that wasn't the case.

Still, this wasn't the time to show what he was worrying about, and he couldn't say anything either. If he was even listened to, it would make him a suspect. Besides, the police would definitely find the sniper when they searched the roof, either for clues about Kaitou Kid or after reports about the gunshots. Though there was no way that wouldn't happen, he found it hard to believe that someone so well prepared was working alone. Chances were that they'd get out alive somehow, likely in handcuffs.

That however, was not his problem. Right now though, he'd worry about getting a drink. A cold drink sounded like something he could use at the moment.

* * *

Yes, I'm well aware that the last chapter ended in almost the same way. However, I can't put anything in during Shinichi and Kaito's conversation since this is written in third person limited. And I couldn't put that Shinichi felt like he was being watching since this is Kaito's point of view. My apologies, but at least this time I gave you their gender. And I think it should be obvious that it's a different person this time.

And no, you didn't imagine the DNAngel reference. I personally love that manga, and the anime's pretty good. I'll have to try writing for it some time. No, that doesn't mean that this will be a crossover on paper. If that happens, it will be limited to my imagination so I don't ruin or halt the plot line of this story. The most you will see is references and a couple of very, very short cameos.

So, how about that birthday present? Now that you've read the story, please take the time to review. It'll make me happy. :)


	4. Ignorance

Merry Christmas! Yeah, this is the last thing I'm gonna post before I go to the other side of the country, and the computer my relatives have is older than I am. So I'm not going to get anything done there.

Wait, if you're lucky I'll be able to finish my twoshot in computer class. But I doubt that. So yeah, you'll get twice the amount of Merry Christmases if that does happen. Oh, and Happy Hanukah and Happy whatever other winter holidays are celebrated that I'm not taking the time to list.

Also, I'm running low on creative Detective Conan and Magic Kaito disclaimers. Just read the ones in previous chapters and deal with it.

Do not review, do you hear me! Do not review under any circumstances! Don't review. . . Did my attempt at reverse psychology work?

* * *

"What's so interesting that it makes you look scared Kuroba?" asked a voice with a slight accent, disrupting Kaito from the deep trance he'd been in while reading that day's newspaper. Sure enough, the Kid notice had gotten to the station, but the articles about that or about last night weren't what interested him.

He was reading an article on a murder case. The body had been found on the building right next to where he and Kudo had been standing last night, on the rooftop where the bullets had been coming from. The person had been dressed all in black and had a gun on him. The cops were currently considering suicide because the man had died from a gunshot wound.

"It's a murder case. The police found the body last night after the heist, when they were investigating reports about some gunshots fired in the area. It was a man about forty years old. He died from a bullet wound to the head, but also had one in his arm. Since the bullets are both from the same type of gun he had on him, the police believe it was suicide and the wound in his arm was from an accidental misfire. He didn't have any form of ID on him though."

Hakuba suddenly looked very alarmed, probably at the word of the murder.

"Tell me exactly where the body was found Kuroba," he demanded rather calmly, for all his visible agitation.

"Well, it was on the roof of the building to the right of the one where the Kid heist was," Kaito reported, only to see Hakuba blanch even more. He was clearly incredibly worried about something, the only question was what.

Kaito didn't get a chance to ask the tantei what was worrying him however, because Hakuba promptly got up and ran out the door, ignoring the fact that he was technically ditching class.

This really worried Kaito, it being so out of character for Hakuba. The guy was had a stiff demeanor and was extremely intelligent, much as it pained the thief to admit it. So why would he lose his composure so completely like that?

"What was that about? I thought Hakuba had solved murders back in England," Aoko wondered aloud, bringing up another reason why Hakuba shouldn't be acting so panicked.

Maybe it was really someone else disguised as Hakuba? He'd done the same, but who else could? Kaito remembered that his dad had had two students learning the art of disguise under him, but had no idea who they were. Maybe it was one of them?

No, that was stupid. That was Hakuba who'd just run from the room. The only question was why.

"Hello Kuroba. What're you so worried about? That death that happened at your heist last night? You shouldn't think you're responsible just because he died on the building right next to you; it wasn't you who pulled that trigger.

"By the way, I recommend staying out of the investigations of the murder. We can't have certain people becoming even more mentally unstable, now can we? This class wouldn't be nearly as fun if that happened," Koizumi said, having somehow managed to sneak up behind Kaito and startle him. At least she was using a whisper when she referred to the heists, but did she have to bring that up? _And why did she have to insinuate that I'm currently mentally unstable? It isn't as if haven't been around death before._

Kaito yanked on Poker Face in order to keep his discomfort from showing before whispering a reply in an annoyed tone, "I told you Koizumi, I'm not Kid. And how do you know where Kid was? I heard from Aoko that even the police don't know how he got away."

A thought struck Kaito, and he continued in a much louder tone, "I'm not mentally unstable!"

"I never said I meant you," the witch replied with a seductive smirk. Kaito hated that. Then again, this was Koizumi. It was to be expected.

"Then who _did_ you mean?"

"Now now, why would I tell you that? I'll let you figure it out for yourself," Koizumi replied with a chuckle.

_What was she talking about? Okay, think Kaito, she didn't warn you about anything. That means that this has nothing to do with Kid. Probably. Then again, how could it not? She warned me that the investigations were going to be. . . harming someone's sanity I guess. But it's not a direct threat to me. Anyway, the only other person who was at that rooftop was Kudo, but what would be up with him? He's just fine with murder cases, if anything they make him angry._

_Still, something's off. The dead guy's definitely from the syndicate, but who shot him? And why didn't they have a silencer? The only people I can think of who'd go around with a gun but no silencer are the police. It obviously wasn't them because they would've either arrested the guy or tried to arrest me. Sheesh, I hope whoever it was wasn't close enough to hear us talking. But who was there?_

_Who'd be stupid enough to fire a gun without a silencer at a Kid heist when there are tons of people around anyway? I'm just glad the guy didn't seem to be aiming for us._

_Which leaves me wondering why he shot, because the only other person I saw up there was the sniper_. Kaito thought, pondering over what reason the man could possibly have for being there. It took him a moment to realize that that meant that the other person was probably aiming for the sniper. He wasn't sure what he thought of that, but decided that someone who had a gun probably wasn't on the sniper's side—at least entirely. That was probably a good thing.

Then again, didn't _all_of the detectives except Kudo have a gun on them at the Karasuma Mansion? Hakuba, Souda Ikumi, and that Mogi guy all did, though it was never discovered whether the criminals had one on them. And of course the only thing close to a gun Kaito carried was his card gun, which wasn't fatal. Hopefully. If it sliced someone's jugular it might kill them, but he preferred not to think about that. His aim was good enough that it would never happen.

So it was probably someone who had something to do with the law, or knew that it would be a dangerous situation. So a detective or another person who knew about the syndicate then? _Ugh, this detective-logic crap is making my head hurt. I'll just leave figuring out who it was to Kudo._

Kaito wondered if Hakuba might know something. That would certainly explain his departure, but not his reaction. Besides, it was impossible. These days Hakuba only dealt with Kid and any murder he happened to stumble across. Fortunately for him, there weren't that many. Kudo on the other hand, had been at every single murder case Kid had ever attended by some freaky coincidence. Nightmare was an accident, so it didn't count. That one was still pretty heavy in his conscience, knowing that he had had a chance to save that man's life, only failing because his glove slipped off.

So back on why Hakuba had run from the room like that. He was probably going to get the details on the case, but what made it so much more important than all the other cases he'd handled. Kaito may have only seen the detective solving a murder once, but he hadn't acted anything like this. The guy was cool and rather detached. Not panicking as if he'd just seen a ghost.

Not that Hakuba was likely to even recognize a ghost for what it really was if it walked right through him. He'd do what all meitantei who deserved their title did best—find some way to explain it logically.

Kaito shrugged, the half-Brit could take care of himself just fine. In the meantime, Kaito had yet to flip Aoko's skirt that day.

He walked over and when he bent down and flipped her skirt, he immediately regretted it. "FISH!" Kaito screamed, barely hearing Aoko's reply.

"Serves you right!"

--------------------------

_No. It can't be. I need to know what really happened. There must be some other explanation. It can't be what I think it is. That's impossible. Or at least, I'd like to hope._

-----------------------

"Excuse me, I was wondering if I could have the case data on the murder that occurred next to the heist location last night," requested Saguru, having calmed down enough that he'd stopped running on the way to the police office, but that was mostly due to the fact that he had been too exhausted to keep running.

"Sure. I'll go ask your dad for it," the officer on duty replied.

Saguru was slightly worried, though he tried to keep it from showing. He didn't feel like he did a particularly good job. "No, that won't be necessary. I just need some basic information. Actually, it would be better if I could obtain it from the crime scene. Would it be possible for me to go there now?"

"Say, don't you have school right about now?"

Saguru had to find some way out of getting fingered for skipping. His dad would kill him if he found out. "No. I got permission to come here, since the murder took place at the location of Kid's heist. I thought that there was a slight chance they were related, though that's probably not the case."

The officer searched him, trying to figure out if that was true. A moment later, he shrugged and nodded permission for the blond to go. "Just don't bring back news that Kid was the murderer. We can hear Nakamori-keibu screaming from in hear you know. I'd rather spare my ears the pain."

With a nod, Saguru left and walked to the bus station. It was a bit of a ride, but he still needed to look into this. Not that he had any suspicions regarding Kuroba as the murderer. The thief seemed to make a policy of "no one gets hurt". Though of course that would have to exclude the people he knocked or put to sleep. He could be such a hypocrite sometimes. More often he was a liar however, with all the denials of being Kaitou Kid.

Denials that Saguru knew where lies, though he didn't have any proof yet. It was only a matter of time in his opinion.

------------------------

_He's dead. Why's he dead? I just hope that this isn't what I suspect it is. That he wasn't killed how I think he was._

------------------------

Upon arriving at the crime scene, Saguru was once again irked by the fact that Kid heists always seemed to be held in tall buildings. Honestly, it was pure stupidity, for the police to willingly open up Kid's favorite escape route.

The ride up the elevator was a long one, made longer by the lack of any people besides himself. The only good side was that the ride gave the remainder of the panic and adrenaline of subside, leaving the blond meitantei his normal calm, composed self. That was good, emotions got in the way of investigations. When you couldn't approach the situation with clarity, detachment, and a level head, the truth would never be found.

"Unless of course the criminal was a complete and utter moron when it came to pulling off the murder. Something so simple anyone on the police force could catch it," Saguru said to himself. Originally he'd been thinking about saying "Someone that even a child could catch", but that wasn't right. After all, Edogawa Conan had managed to figure out that murder case at the Karasuma Mansion at the same time the rest of them had. He'd even beaten the half-Brit that time at the Tantei Koshein, or so it seemed from his reactions. Not that that would ever be known, as Hattori had been the one to reveal the truth.

Saguru mentally sighed to himself. The only reason that he hadn't figured it out too was that he hadn't approached the situation with complete indifference. He'd been irked at Hattori's hotheadedness and pursuing only Kaitou Kid for too long. He was out of practice. Perhaps it was time to get back in the habit of solving murders, especially since the Detective of the East was still missing.

It'd been nine months. A long time for a person to be missing. At this rate, the investigation would never restart, because there wasn't really any hope of Kudo Shinichi still being alive. Unless of course he'd gone into hiding, but what would be his reason for that?

Saguru shifted his head to look at the floor counter. Five more to go before he reached the rooftop. Honestly, buildings were getting too tall these days. Or perhaps he was just more impatient than usual. That would be bad; impatience would make him mess up.

Three more floors to go and not enough time to completely drain himself of impatience. Still, he had to try. It was just that since they knew Kaitou Kid had escaped of the roof, he would become the prime suspect depending on the time of death. That wouldn't be good. Saguru knew that Kuroba wasn't the guilty one.

At last the doors opened onto the floor below the roof. The building was conveniently planned, as the stairs to the roof were right across from him. Saguru ascended, and ducked under some caution tape only a few steps from the roof.

Upon opening the door, the teen glanced around and was very relieved to see that his father wasn't present. After all, his dad was the only one who would go to the trouble of verifying that the tantei had indeed had permission to leave school if he became suspicious. Now though, he was pretty much in the clear.

He approached a nearby officer and asked, "Excuse me, but I was wondering if I could have the details on the case. The Kid heist occurred right there," Saguru said, pointing to the lower rooftop. "And I wanted to see if they could be connected."

"Yes sir. The deceased had no ID on him whatsoever; the body is next to the wall on the right side if you want to have a look. He died of a bullet to the head at somewhere between nine o'clock and ten thirty last night. Forensics determined that the bullet was shot from a Walther PPK, and there's also another one in his arm. Same type of bullet, so it's undoubtedly from the same gun." The report was read from the policeman's notebook, and it was useful information.

"Arigato. I'd like to examine the body, if forensics isn't busy."

"Go right ahead," was the affirmative reply. "They haven't moved the body yet, as they still need someone to do exact calculations on the angles among some other stuff. It's over there," the guard replied, pointing to the edge of the roof on his right.

Saguru walked over and knelt down to examine the body. No one bothered to stop him. After all, he'd been a meitantei in England when it came to murders. Also in Japan, though on a lesser scale.

Not that he doubted the police, but just to be sure he reconfirmed the rigor mortis and looked at the way the body had fallen. The man had definitely been hit from the front, likely while clutching his injured arm. The angle of the wound suggested that the shot had come from the other roof. There was also gunpowder on the edge of the man's coat, he realized. A large patch right near the hem.

There wasn't much he could do with this information though. It had taken so long to reach the city that it was almost lunchtime. Deciding he shouldn't do something partway, Saguru opted to just eat in the city and not return to school till tomorrow. By the time he got back there would only be one period left anyway.

--------------------

_I was afraid of this. How can it be? Why did this happen? Why did I have to kill him? Why did I become a murderer?_

--------------

"So Kid will show up at the same place again for the heist?" a cute little boy asked his caretaker.

"Yeah. Seems the murder investigation isn't going to stop him. They hope to have it all cleared up by tonight anyway," Mouri replied, reluctant to give such information to a little kid.

"Murder investigation?"

Ran came up behind Shinichi, startling him as she replied, "Yeah, didn't you hear about it. Someone was killed on the roof of the building to the right of where Kid escaped from. I think they even said that the time of death matched up with when they think that Kid left the scene."

_What? It must be the sniper who was killed then, but by who? Or was it the person who shot the other gun? And who was the murderer? The person who shot the other gun, the one without a silencer? Or the sniper, if he wasn't the victim. I don't even know where the second man was._

"Can we go? I wanna see the investigation," Shinichi said in a whiny voice, trying to take advantage of his current form to get his way.

"No. We're not going. We're still going to the heist tonight. That should be enough for you. Don't complain."

Ran smile apologetically at him. "Sorry Conan-kun, but we can't. You can watch the Kid heist later tonight, okay?"

"Demo Ran-neechan. . ."

"No buts. We can't go Conan-kun. Sorry. I'll buy you ice cream to make up for it, okay?"

"Fine," Shinichi replied. After all, it would be hard for him to justify saying no to ice cream besides being sick. Which would, of course, prevent him from going to the heist that night. _But that's not what I want. I want to see if I can find out who the murderer is. Even if they did kill a member of the organization, they still deserve to go to jail._

"Come on then. Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I have to go shopping first. Sorry." What? Shopping? Now that was just plain unfair, only giving him ice cream after he basically agreed to go shopping with her. Shinichi grumbled under his breath about the unfairness of the world.

-----------------

_No. He'd dead. And I think I killed him. I'm the only one who could've. It was me. But I can't say anything. No matter what punishment I deserve, no one can know I'm the murderer. Why did this have to happen? I didn't want to deal with this. I'm going to have to never tell anyone, no matter what._

---------------------

Saguru wasn't all very hungry, not that that was particularly strange. So he stopped at a café and got some tea and biscuits to prevent fatigue and ate them there.

Another reason he'd gotten something so simple was that he had more to do. He knew he really should be doing more research, but there was something that came first.

Even if it was a bit dirty, Saguru could see himself enjoying this, if all went well. Really out of his normal behavior pattern frankly, but some things couldn't be helped.

Like the way he couldn't help it if Hattori was a hothead, and easy to provoke and annoy. Or that his reactions were amusing, and often made him seem even more like a hothead.

The British detective finished his lunch and went out to find somewhere private to call from. He couldn't go home yet, Shiori was still there, ready to catch him ditching. Hopefully she wouldn't call his parents, but still.

The perfect place he found was a bench in a park. The area was deserted with all kids still in school, and the bench was in a remote locations. Unbeknownst to Saguru however, this was the exact same place where Kudo had confronted Kuroba, and they'd forged their alliance against the Black Organization.

The symbolism went unseen by him however. To Saguru it was just a convenient spot to make his call in privacy without going home.

He took out his cell phone and was forced to call information before dialing. Thankfully they had cell phone numbers too. Even if school hours weren't the best time to be making this call, it was technically a break between classes. He should be able to get an answer.

"Moshi moshi. Hattori here," greeted a teen in a lazy Kansai drawl.

"Hattori. How long have you known?" Hakuba didn't care that his voice probably wouldn't be recognized by the other great high school detective. Even if his accent did give him away, it might be better for him to remain anonymous for a few minutes, at least until the other was trapped.

"Excuse me? Who is this?"

"Can you answer my question? How long have you known."

Saguru could practically see Hattori's suspicious glare into the phone, directed at the unknown caller. He sighed and continued, "It's Hakuba Saguru. My apologies, I think one of my more mischievous classmates has been rubbing off on me."

"Oh. I remember you. Known what exactly?" The suspicion had mostly left his tone, now replaced by confusion and vague annoyance. It wasn't as if the two had made any attempts towards staying in contact since the case on the island.

"Known where Kudo Shinichi was hiding," Saguru replied calmly. That wasn't the exact question he wanted to ask, but if jumped straight to his question, he'd never get the truth.

"You mean Kudo? Nice guy. But I don't know where he is. I've even heard rumors that he was dead."

"But those rumors are false. And you know that."

"What makes you think those rumors are false?" The suspicion was barely contained in Hattori's voice, so that someone wouldn't hear it if they weren't listening. It was still there though, because the Naniwa detective knew the answer, and had obviously been asked to keep it a secret.

"A lot of things. Including the discovery of his hiding place. As Sherlock Holmes said, 'One of the best places to hide something is in plain sight.' Not that you'd know, from what I hear, you idolize some third-rate detective over Holmes."

"Ellery Queen is way better than Holmes you idiot!" Hattori yelled, before addressing the less important of the two subjects. Or at least, in his opinion it was less important.

"So if you know where Kudo's hiding, then why are you asking me?"

Saguru smirked a little bit. "I don't want to be fed a bunch of bull and be unable to get to the truth. Besides, I thought he's had enough practice that he'd be too hard to trap. The way you just trapped yourself by indirectly admitting that you know he'd in hiding as well."

It was a risky ploy, because if Hattori saw that his statement wasn't necessarily incriminating, he'd be on guard for the rest of the conversation. However, Hattori cursed under his breath, showing Saguru that his trick had worked.

"What do you want to know?" Hattori asked in a tone that managed to mix feeling resigned with annoyance.

"You could start by answering my initial question. How long have you known?"

"A few months. Since September I guess."

Saguru raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been expecting that. "Quite a long time I see. Before 'Edogawa-kun' first went up against Kid then. I'm surprised you figured it out honestly," he remarked with very heavy sarcasm applied to the name.

"Well how long have _you_know, cause you nominated Kudo as representative from the East during that koshein."

"Ah yes. As much as I noticed he was good at deduction, that was a coincidence. Though I have to ask if you brought him there because you knew that he couldn't attend."

"Yeah, you have a problem with that. I'm surprised you even figured this out, after you called him 'Kudo whoever-kun' right to his face."

"Ah yes, that was ironic wasn't it. Especially since I knew who you were, when it appears that he's more famous."

"What're you talking about?! I'm just as famous as him in Osaka, and we're both way more famous than you!"

"Oh really? Could've fooled me."

"Shut up! Now I'm not gonna tell you anything!" Hattori yelled before hanging up. Saguru chuckled to himself, needling the other detective was so fun, even when it was unintentional. Not that most of that was unintentional.

_I didn't expect you to tell me more. Besides, why should you. You're friends with Kudo-kun first, there's no reason to tell me. Besides, I don't know if I deserve something like that anymore._

-----------------

_Why? Why do I have to be a murderer? It was an accident; I didn't mean to kill him. But he's dead. So I'm a murderer. Life is so unfair._

---------------

"So did Saguru-niichan bring the gem this time?" Shinichi asked a nearby police officer from the Kaitou Kid taskforce.

"You mean Hakuba-san? Yes, I believe he's here. I didn't hear anything about the gem though, besides what Kid said last night about the gem being a fake.

"Arigato," Shinichi replied before running off. He had to find Hakuba if he wanted to stop Kuroba from getting the Saint of Tears.

Not that Hakuba wasn't a good detective, but for one thing, Shinichi wanted to win this time. Or at least tie with Kuroba. It was no fun to tie only because of an outsider's interference. True, it was justified, Shinichi was pretty sure that Hakuba was technically considered the world-renowned expert on Kaitou Kid.

_Let's see, I doubt Hakuba put the gem back if he hid it last night. He's gonna be somewhere where he can get an edge on Kuroba and trap him. Preferably in private without any police, and not the roof because it'd be too easy for Kuroba to get away. Since the police are swarming all the above-ground floors of this building, he'll probably be in the basement._ Shinichi deducted, heading down the stairs toward said basement.

Looking through the entryways onto various levels, the brunette thought to himself, _Exactly how many officers does Division 2 have? Isn't this a bit excessive for a guy who never lets anyone get seriously hurt and returns everything he steals anyway?_

---------------------

_No. This isn't right. I can't face him. He's more innocent than I am. I shouldn't be here. Someone who isn't a hypocrite should try to capture him. But still, I have to. . . do what exactly? Warn him about the men? Apologize for killing someone? Tell him to stop? I don't know. It doesn't matter, I shouldn't be here. There shouldn't be any murderers in this building. In police territory, they're just begging to be caught._

_I don't deserve the trust I'm going to get. I don't deserve to be above suspicion. Don't those guys get it? I'm the guilty one. I'm the one who killed that man. So why aren't they arresting me? Isn't there evidence somewhere?_

------------------

"Who's there?" asked a voice from the room, hiding behind something. Apparently Hakuba had realized that Shinichi was making too little noise for a grown man or something. And it was Hakuba, if the voice was anything to go by.

"Saguru-niichan, is that you? Edogawa Conan desu," Shinichi replied, to be rewarded with Hakuba Saguru stepping out to meet him from where he'd been kneeling against the wall, probably preparing traps to catch Kuroba or something.

But something was wrong. Hakuba looked almost. . . frightened. Determined and sad and slightly scared. It made no sense. "Conan-kun, I'm glad you want to help catch Kaitou Kid. You'll make a great tantei someday. But listen: I need you to get out of here."

Shinichi narrowed his eyes slightly behind his glasses in a scowl. Just because he physically resembled a seven year old meant he was any less capable than he had been before. "But Saguru-niichan, I want to help catch Kaitou Kid!"

It was strange, Hakuba was barely holding onto a mask of composure, but he could see behind it. See the panic, the begging that accompanied Hakuba's next words. "No. You really need to go. Something bad will happen. Go now."

"Fine," the chibi tantei replied, sulking. After leaving the room, he watched for when the Brit returned to whatever he'd been doing, before sneaking back in the room and hiding behind some boxes. It wasn't the most comfortable hiding place in the world, but he had a clear view of almost the whole room and was unlikely to be spotted. It would work for his purposes.

----------

_I guess part of me wants to be caught. A large part of me. Out of guilt probably. But I can't turn myself in. There's still more that I can do to help people. I can do more good than harm. Besides, I want to atone for killing him._

_No one can atone by being isolated and locked up in prison. You don't have anything you can prove, and there's nothing to resist. It's stupid. If I'm going to redeem myself, I need to do it out here, helping people._

_Even if I'll never be able to honestly look myself in the eye again. I'll carry the burden and shame of this secret till I die._

------------------

"Hakuba-san? Are you down here? I heard a rumor that you still had the gem, is that true?" asked a policeman by the name of Naruti-san from the doorway.

Turning his head, Shinichi could see that Hakuba had almost been expecting the man. With good reason of course.

As off topic as it was, Shinichi couldn't help but notice that something was still very wrong with Hakuba.

"Hello Kuroba. Nice to see you too," Hakuba replied from where he stood, shocking Shinichi. The not-boy just crouched there with wide eyes, watching their encounter. _If Hakuba knew all this time, then why isn't Kuroba in jail yet?_

However, Shinichi's thoughts were answered by the policeman's response. If you hadn't been looking, you wouldn't have been able to tell that it was the same person, for the policeman's voice had changed. He was now speaking in smooth, lighter tones of Kaitou Kid. "Now now Hakuba. You really need to stop accusing that classmate of yours of being me. Nothing could be farther from the truth."

Hakuba raised an eyebrow, his environment reflecting on his mood, putting the challenge back in his voice. "I don't believe you, but you realize that if that was true, I could add 'stalker' to your charges upon arrest?"

"Why Hakuba, I thought you knew. I just enjoy checking up on my opponents. Did you that it was Ishiyama-san's anniversary yesterday?"

"No, I was unaware. I'll have to remember to congratulate him," Hakuba replied, slightly startled.

However, what he uttered next surprised them both. It startled them so much that Kuroba's surprise was almost visible, which just served to add to Shinichi's shock. "Kuroba, who's going to catch you?"

"What-are you talking about? I thought you knew I'm uncatchable," replied Kuroba, managing to turn what had originally been a surprised answer that caught him off guard into a suave, cocky retort. Shinichi thought it looked as if the thief's Poker Face had been strained a little for the first word or so after he caught himself.

"That's not true. Anyway, I can tell you for sure that it isn't going to be me. It seems as if I'll be moving back to England permanently by the end of next week."

"And why are you doing that? You'd deprive me of the challenge of successfully outsmarting you?"

Hakuba frowned in response as he remarked, "I'm sure you remember that I've stopped you in the past, unless your insanity is affecting your memory.

"As for why, that's none of your business," Hakuba said, and Shinichi thought he saw an opportunity. In the past he would've sedated Kuroba, but they were allies now. He couldn't risk doing that right in front of Hakuba.

So as quietly as he could, he released one of the now multiple soccer balls from his belt and bent down to turn the dial on his shoes. As he was about to turn the dial, one of the two teenagers spoke up.

"You can come out now. Eavesdropping is rude, even if it can be the only way to get something done in this business." Considering the last comment, that was Hakuba, even if the tone hadn't given it away. Shinichi, however, was more worried about having been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Tantei-kun, you startled me," Kuroba started, before seeing what the boy was dribbling at his feet. "Is that a soccer ball? You shouldn't waste shots you know."

"How long did you two know I was here?"

Looking thoughtful for a minute, the white-clad man replied, "Since you started moving a minute ago to your belt. You're very good at spying for a seven year old." Shinichi couldn't decide if the last comment was to derail Hakuba's suspicions, tease him, or both.

From what he'd heard of Kuroba's reputation and what he'd seen at heists, it was probably both.

Shinichi was not, however, expecting Hakuba to scoff. "I've known since you snuck back in. And Kid, what caused the drop in your acting skills? Normally you're much better a-"

Shinichi didn't get to find out what Hakuba was trying to say, because in that second a loud bang sounded through the air only a millisecond after Hakuba interrupted himself to yell, "**DUCK!**"

* * *

Originally I was going to put that it was Sensui Yoichi from the clock tower heist that had his anniversary. A little bit of humor, since he's still single.

Also, if you didn't figure out who's thoughts those were during the timeskips, you're rather oblivious. No offence, seriously. And for those of you who did figure it out and now hate me for making the guy a murderer, please don't hate me! I won't tell you what's going to happen, but there's a reason this chapter is called "Ignorance". Also, if you go back and reread the end of the last chapter and then this one, you'll see something interesting.

But that's all my hints.

Writing is Hakuba's POV was annoying. I kept accidentally writing "Hakuba" instead of "Saguru". This is a problem because people tend to think of themselves by their given names.


	5. Interpretations

Hi everyone! I'm back. I just hope you don't hate me for making you wait so long and then coming out with such a short chapter. I do promise you that the next one will be longer. It will also be the first time we see Haibara. Finally, I was getting really impaitent because I've been looking forward to this chapter for awhile.

Due to large amouts of school projects and homework, you probably won't hear from me for the next three weeks. I hate my teachers.

On another note, a huge thanks to gundamzbd36, Forgotten Lake (Hey FL!), WolfDaughter, Mel72000, Katreal, book-zealot, Saitaina R. Moricia, and The Shang Kudarung for your reviews! Also thanks to those who favorited my story or added me to their alerts, but mostly thanks to my great reviewers. Honestly, I probably would've dropped this story by now if it weren't for you guys. Proof that people actually like my story or are interested enough to give some constructive criticism is really what keeps me going. So give yourselves a hand.

Which reminds me. Saitaina R. Moricia pointed out something that I'd like to explain. In a previous chapter Kaito is thinking that it will be the first time Hakuba and Shinichi have ever worked together at a heist (or at all really). It was pointed out that they did work together at the Karasuma Mansion and the Tantei Koshein. First of all I'd like to point out that this story will be entirely in third person limited point of view. So you're only going to see the thoughts of one character at a time, though they will probably make interpretations of what other characters are thinking. Kaito didn't know about the Tantei Koshein because he wasn't there and Hakuba didn't tell him. Also, it was a contest. They weren't working together so much as against each other. At the Karasuma Mansion, they were also being pitted against each other, and yes, Hakuba did go along with Shinichi's plan. However, they weren't actively going after Kaitou Kid, even though it's indicated that at least Shinichi and probably Hakuba know that Kaito's disguised as Mouri. They're just focusing on the murderer. It's a lesser of two evils thing.

Just wanted to get that cleared up. So now, enjoy. Also read and review or I will unleash Vermouth to get you for not reviewing.

* * *

"**Duck!"** yelled Hakuba, interrupting what he was going to say. The other two reacted instinctively, turning around and changing positions in the millisecond before the sound of a bullet colliding with metal rang out.

There, standing on the third step from the bottom, was a man. A man holding a gun with a silencer on the end. A man dressed entirely in black.

He wasn't familiar to Shinichi, but the trademark color scheme and the gun left no mistake. Coupled with what was happening right now anyway. Whoever this man was, he was definitely with the Black Organization.

However, Shinichi wasn't quite sure whether the look of insanity on his face made their problems better or worse.

On one hand, it might make it easier to trick their attacker if he were less than sane. On the other, insane people tended to not be very logical in what they did. He might continue pursuing them into situations that put his life in danger as a result. And of course, the three teen's lives, as they were the ones he was attacking.

Either way, things didn't look particularly good. There was also the risk that whoever their assailant was, he had back-up. More people wielding guns, out to kill one of them. At this point he wasn't sure who the target was, but rather hoped they were just after Kuroba. After all, if they were attacking Shinichi, then they knew his identity. Knowledge he'd much rather keep private, especially since it could then endanger all those around him. Especially Ran, regardless of whether she knew the truth or not. It wasn't like it would be easy to prove she didn't.

But then again, he was risking too much on them knowing of her ignorance. The Organization liked to make a clean job of things, so they wouldn't kill any more than necessary. Everyone who had no idea of their existence would be left alive.

"Consorting with the enemy Kaitou Kid? And I would've thought the great Kuroba Toichi would be above dragging little kids into something so dangerous." Well that cleared that up. And the fact that _they_ knew who the first Kid was definitely explained the murder of Kuroba-san. However, Shinichi did have to wonder where they'd gotten the idea that Kuroba was actually his father behind the monocle. _I wonder if Kuroba knows why. Either way, that was a lucky coincidence on his part. That misconception's probably the only reason he's still alive._

The man wasn't done however, making a very nasty, insane smile grow even larger. "Your mistake. It's your fault, but since you've all seen me," the man re-aimed his gun, shifting to all three of them in turn, before settling back on Kuroba. "You can all die together!"

As he started to pull the trigger, several things happened at once. Kuroba dropped a flash bomb that ignited, making it possible for their attacker to see. Also, unfortunately, making Shinichi unable to see as well. Obviously Hakuba was having the same predicament. Kid, on the other hand, he wasn't so sure about.

Quickly as he could, Shinichi aimed the soccer ball he hadn't gotten a chance to kick a moment, and let fly on the man. As soon as the ball starting moving, he ducked under the cover of the boxes once again. Naturally, his position allowed him to see what was going on in the rest of the room.

As the smoke dissipated, Shinichi saw that Kuroba had fired several cards before hiding as well. The King of Spades, 7 of Clubs, and the Joker were all imbedded in the wall with the door. Though unable to see exactly where Kuroba was hiding, Shinichi was pretty sure it was somewhere that left the freedom to attack.

The man was just getting up, recovering from being hit very hard by a soccer ball to the gut and knocked over.

Hakuba was not very well hidden, only ducked around the sides of the boxes. Also, as a slight surprise, was aiming a 9mm handgun at their attacker, his finger ready on the trigger. The gun was aimed somewhere in the man's central upper body, the part with all the vital spots.

"Going to shoot me then? You don't have the guts. You'd never kill someone, don't think I don't know that perfectly well detective."

Hakuba's reply probably shocked everyone. "Want to bet? It's not as if I haven't killed someone before." No matter what Shinichi had been expecting in reply, that definitely wasn't it. Hakuba had killed someone? He wouldn't believe it if he hadn't heard it from the blonde's own mouth. Shinichi desperately hoped it was a bluff, but the grim look of disgust and regret mixed with determination seemed to confirm the words.

The disgust and regret however, gave more details. If the disgust was at himself and not the insane Black Op. then it meant something else. The regret visible in the Brit's eyes only supported that theory. Whoever Hakuba had killed, it had been an accident. Since it he hadn't heard about it that meant Hakuba was covering himself up. The only question was why. Personally, Shinichi had thought the other tantei to be honest, if a bit. . . British? Maybe that was the word for it.

"Oh really? You know, I've killed too. Dozens of people in fact. Can you match that detective? I killed just last night actually; I had to kill my partner. Otherwise the police would've gotten him. Can't have that, can we?" said the man, his voice think with insanity and sick pleasure.

Suddenly, his tone changed to a deranged, angry one. "Someone bastard made me kill my partner! Damn them, damn whoever shot him in the arm! They can just go straight to Hell, 'cause they made me kill my partner, goddamn it!"

"Now now Bad Guy-san, watch your language. There are children here," admonished Kuroba from his hiding place, his voice echoing all throughout the room, concealing his location. _How's he doing that? I would've thought there were too many boxes for echoes in here. Whatever, I probably don't want to know,_ Shinichi thought as he turned to glare at the location where he thought the thief was hiding.

Even if he didn't _want_ the man knowing, that was no reason to actually treat him like a seven year old!

The fact that he was probably glaring in the wrong direction didn't help Shinichi's mood at all.

Hakuba meanwhile, looked rather shocked. Why, Shinichi wasn't quite certain. It wasn't as if the guy had a reason to be shocked by Kuroba's comment. Possibly the man declaring that he'd killed his own partner last night? After all, a partner tended to be an ally, not someone you attacked. In the Organization however, if you messed up, you were dead.

The partner was presumably the sniper who'd had a silencer the previous night, the man found dead on the adjacent rooftop.

"I've killed people before an' I know you haven't so I can do whatever I goddamn want to!" the man snarled in response.

"Why, I even placed my own gun on his corpse after I shot him! Made it look as if he'd committed suicide while looking out over the city! The cops will never figure it out, they're too idiotic! No, I'm on the right side. None shall stop us, and only we know of our own existence!" he raved insanely.

"It was a shame about the gun though. Nice one, a Walther PPK. At least I got to keep the silencer; the bastard who hit him in the arm took care of gunshots.

"Actually, Kaitou Kid made me have to kill him too! Damn you Kaitou Kid, those cards cut him so it hurt too much to walk! He woulda been fine if it weren't for the bullet, but no! Did you do that too?! Fire the gun at his arm?! Get out here so I can do my job and kill ya! Give me the pleasure of ending your life once and for all! So you're finally dead, like you supposed to be years ago!"

_We've got to get out of here, this guy is insane. He's gonna start shooting soon, and I don't know if we can get out of here before he does,_ Shinichi thought the near-impossible state of mind that is a calm panic attack.

Shinichi listened to his impulses less than one fourth of the time during cases, except for when someone's safety was in danger. Normally however, he tended to think things through. So even though he wasn't as stiff and disciplined in reacting only after thinking things through as Hakuba was, his brain still tried to make sense out of everything in the scene. It was a detective's instinct, after searching so hard for the truth and having to work to avoid dangerous situations, especially ones involving hostages.

The problem at hand however, was the gunman. The desirable solution would be to get out alive and relatively unharmed (Shinichi wasn't enough of an idiot to believe coming out unscathed would be possible) and hand the man into police custody. Unfortunately, things never seemed to work entirely the way you wanted to. Even worse, a certain piece of crap named Murphy had once tarnished the Earth with his presence and his laws.

At that moment, Shinichi was almost on the verge of hating Ran. She hadn't given him the chance to go to Agasa's and get more stun darts, since his personal stock of reloadable ammunition was empty. Though of course she had no idea the situation was so important. . . and that was all his fault.

Something moving caught his eye, and upon looking up he saw Hakuba making some sort of hand motions just out of their attacker's sight. A signal obviously, but whether it was to run, hide and let the "older kids" take care of things, or attack, Shinichi didn't know.

Though, considering his appearance, it almost certainly wasn't the last option.

A few seconds later, Hakuba moved further into the gunman's sight and raised his gun, aiming for the man's general upper body.

He fired, and the shot landed in the wall behind the operative not an inch from his shoulder.

As he turned around to look, Kuroba did something that was probably extremely stupid. He barreled into their attacker, knocking him down before telling the detectives to "Come on already!"

Whether or not they'd somehow coordinated that move, or they simply thought alike, Shinichi didn't know. He was however, certain of one thing. They needed to get somewhere where the gunman wouldn't be able to kill anyone else.

If only he'd been able to contact Jodie-sensei then they'd have the FBI's help. But of course Shinichi'd gotten the busy signal both times he tried calling her. Once again, Murphy and his laws needed to burn and rot in hell.

Jumping out from behind the box and knocking it over in the process, Shinichi ran with Hakuba right behind him. The three of them dashed out the door and ran up the stairs, making for the elevators on the other side of the landing. Even before they were at the top of the stairs, Shinichi could hear the man getting up and start chasing them.

Recalling his scouting the building the previous night, Shinichi knew that there were displays above the elevator that told you what floor someone was heading to so you had an idea of how long you'd have to wait, since the elevator's progress was also shown on what looked like half of a clock.

Kaitou Kid ran in the closest elevator and hurriedly pressed himself to the side behind the door as he pressed the roof button the very second Shinichi started across the threshold so that the door closed almost immediately after they were all in. The last thing Shinichi glimpsed was the gunman, looking very pissed and less than sane, raising his gun as if to shoot at the doors.

Shinichi just hoped the man didn't get to the roof before them, or they were all screwed. Unless there were problems with this elevator though, they'd get there first. How much earlier they'd arrive was what they had to worry about.

"Do either of you know what he meant, when he said that someone made him kill his partner?" Hakuba asked, looking confused and thoughtful and. . . slightly relieved? About what?

_Unless. . . Does he seriously mean that it was him? _

Kuroba, on the other hand, had an interesting, realistic version of Poker Face on. It broadcasted amused confusion as he replied, "Well I took it at face value Tantei-san. How else are you supposed to read into it?"

Hakuba let a tiny chuckle escape as he leaned back against the wall, seemingly relaxed despite the seriousness of their situation. "Well Kuroba, you'll be happy to know I'm not going to England then. You get to keep both the East and the foreign advocate as your rivals." Well that was an interesting way of putting it. Shinichi was sure that he had nothing to worry about though. Hakuba was only referring to their respective roles at the Tantei Koshein and not his actual title. After all, what else could it be? There was absolutely no way that Hakuba knew the truth. He didn't have to worry.

"It means I didn't accidentally kill that man last night."

Unlike that time when Hattori first introduced them to Kazuha and he'd nearly gotten a heart attack due to the misunderstanding that made Kazuha think Ran was the "Kudo" Hattori had spoken of. And when there was the friend of someone who knew Shinichi's secret faced him and started yelling about the "Kudo" Hattori had been talking so much about right in front of Ran. . . Shinichi had sort of panicked and thought she knew and was exposing him.

Turned out she had no clue whatsoever and he'd nearly jumped out of his skin in a panic for nothing.

Even worse that Hattori had failed to mention that Shinichi was in fact a _guy_.

Kaitou Kid raised his eyebrows. "Maa Tantei-san. You really need to stop accusing that poor classmate of yours of being me. I feel sorry for the guy, being persecuted by you like that all the time." Though Hakuba's suspicion of the thief's true identity was something Shinichi had already realized, he hadn't expected Kuroba to reply like that. It was practically giving up to admit that he knew Hakuba was accusing him on a regular basis like that, so why would Kuroba do it.

"Shall we add 'stalker' to your list of charges in that case?"

"It wouldn't matter if you did, I'll never get caught."

Shinichi just had to interrupt after hearing that particular opening. It was too good to resist the jab already sitting on the edge of his tongue, just waiting to come out. "Nani? Why would someone say that when all three of us are trapped in here together? Saguru-niisan could arrest you right now." Dropping to a lower, more serious tone of voice that lacked the majority of his Conan act, Shinichi continued. "And by the way, you can't climb out the hatch above us because it's sealed shut. You're outnumbered. Tonight could be the night the world finally gets to witness the capture of the infamous Magician Under the Moonlight."

"While it's true that might be the case if it weren't for the sniper, you don't intend for Kid to go to jail, do you Kudo-kun?"

_What?_ Both Shinichi and Kuroba were flabbergasted. _But how does he know? This is only the third time I've seen him! Though now that I think about it, Hattori only took two cases to figure it out as well. Still, I thought Hakuba listened more to logic than instincts, and logic definitely says people can't just shrink ten years in a under an hour. I thought I was being careful enough, what the hell gave me away?!_

Shinichi was shocked. It was a fair reaction for someone in his situation who had had their acting proven faulty once again. Almost a year's worth of labor had gone into that mask, adding to it, strengthening it, and creating it. All stripped away in a few seconds with one measly accusation. A few simple words, and one name. That was all it had taken for his entire persona to be exposed, sending Shinichi into a sort of confused panic.

Three of the foremost questions on the detective's mind were extremely important. Personally he just plain needed to when exactly Hakuba had uncovered the truth and what gave away the fact that he really was Kudo Shinichi. That was for obvious reasons, so he could keep from making the same mistake again.

So he now had his two greatest meitantei rivals knowing the truth. It was probably good in some ways though, because as much as he didn't want to involve anyone else, Shinichi knew Hattori and Hakuba could protect themselves. Plus the more people who took cases, the more likely they were to unearth something that contained a lead on the Black Organization.

"Relax, I don't intend to tell anyone. As for how I found out, I tricked Hattori into spilling enough that I could force him to tell me the rest. He really needs to learn to think things through a bit better before he does something."

"Fine. Besides, it's not like I have a choice but to trust you." Really, the brunette had no other choice. One of the two things you couldn't steal was knowledge. That's why _they_ killed so many. All witnesses had to be silenced, because no one could know of the Organization's existence.

Shinichi was just glad that wasn't the case, because if people knew the Syndicate existed, they could stop it. Stop their crimes and arrest all the members so that no one else would die at their hands.

Kid started laughing in that careless manner he was famous for and assured him, "Don't worry Tantei-kun, Hakuba's trustworthy. Even more so when he finds out what's at stake."

"Thank you for your trust Kuroba. And don't bother denying it either. Even if there's no proof, I know you're the one behind the monocle."

"Yeah, I know you do. As I said before, now that you know, we might as well tell you what's at stake. Whether you like it or not Hakuba, you're stuck on the team. For now though, I think all you need to know is that that gunman's in the organization we're after."

Shinichi was a bit startled at how fast the magician had been willing to reveal all that to the one person who was second most obsessive about catching Kaitou Kid, and the smarter of the two. After a few seconds he decided to add to what was said anyway. "They're a large crime syndicate and any type of crime you can imagine, they've done it. They're all pros, the police don't even know they exist. Anyone who is captured gets killed, either by suicide or another member nearby. If we get lucky enough to catch this guy we'll be turning him over to the FBI, who are also investigating this. We'll fill you in on the rest later."

"Yes," Hakuba replied, looking up. "I'd like to know what's going on. However, I agree we need to save it for later. Get ready, there's only one floor between here and the top. Just try and keep him off the roof, it's more likely someone on the street will get hit by a bullet without windows."

They braced themselves for anything, but the floor seemed to be empty as they looked. Hakuba checked more carefully before deciding no one was there and giving the affirmation that they wouldn't be shot the second they stepped out of the elevator.

As he stepped out, the first thing Shinichi did was check the indicators on top of all the other elevators. As he was checking the fifth one however, another elevator opened and out walked the gunman, looking more than ready to fire.

The first thing he did was aim at Kaitou Kid. He pulled back on the trigger and fired. Kuroba had glanced and seen him in time and tried to duck, but with their close proximity he ended up getting a bullet to the arm.

Shinichi ran back from next to the door of the elevator where their attacker had emerged from, it was too easy to be cornered there. At the same time, Hakuba raised his handgun and fired a shot, hitting their attacker in the knee. Hopefully that would make walking to hard for him to chase them.

"You honestly think such a small wound will keep me down?!" the gunman raved insanely. "I will finish you off and my organization will win Pandora with the death of Kaitou Kid!"

He lifted the gun again and this time aimed for Kuroba's heart. Unfortunately, the thief had no gem in his suit to take the hit for him this time.

The man's finger tightened on the trigger.

And Shinichi kicked his last soccer ball as hard as he could at the man's head in hopes of knocking him out. He kicked it so hard that he fell back and landed on his back, the aftershock making his body come back up just enough for him to hit his head rather hard.

In that same instant Hakuba fired a bullet at the man's hand. If he hit on target, the gun would get knocked onto the floor. If he was wrong, they'd all get blown up because of the gunpowder inside both his own bullet and the ones loaded in their attacker's gun.

Hakuba's bullet soared towards the other gun, and hit right on target. The gun flew out of the man's hand and onto the floor beside him with the force of the impact.

As the gunman automatically leaned over to retrieve his pistol, he was knocked over by the force of the soccer ball. It would be hard to remain conscious, the detectives and thief would have him in a few more seconds.

However, the ball hit him at an angle that put the man in black right next to the gun. He picked it up quickly, body shaking from the effort of remaining conscious.

The man lifted the gun to his head as quickly as possible, if a bit clumsily, and fired.

He died instantly.

It was exactly what the teenagers had been trying to prevent. Not only the death of another, but the loss of information on the Syndicate.

"Kuso," Shinichi muttered sharply before sitting down. That had taken a lot out of him, and the adrenaline rush was fading. The not-child's head hurt from its impact with the floor, his endurance lessened due to his current form. He didn't fall unconscious, but was very tired.

Looking up, he saw that Hakuba was trying to calm down and put his gun away as he moved to tend to Kuroba's bullet wound.

Speaking of the thief, he was probably in the worst condition. Not only from the bullet still lodged painfully in his arm, but he seemed to be going into some kind of broken down shock.

Shinichi realized what was wrong immediately. Kuroba wasn't used to death. Now, only in the presence of others who already knew the truth, he had no reason to force himself to hide behind a mask. Because truthfully, his masks helped him pull himself together and meditate. To keep going, and maintain the semi-calm exterior mentally as well.

But without a reason, he was unable to force himself to do so. Shinichi felt sorry for his ally and friend.

"The police are coming, they will have heard the gunshots by now. How much should we cover up?" Hakuba asked as he tied a piece of one of the shirts Kuroba had stashed tight around the thief's injured arm.

Shinichi sighed. He knew they'd have to face this eventually, and it was too dangerous for the police to find out about _them_. Not until they were defeated could anyone know. "A madman came in here and started firing at us as we were facing Kid. He seemed insane and was screaming about ending Kid's life. You used your handgun to knock away his. . . that looks like a Walther PPK. Guess he really likes those. I knocked over," Shinichi said as he walked over to the pedestal with a large potted plant on it in between the elevators. "This plant," He proceeded to knock over the pedestal and adjust where the plant fell so it was reasonable that the pot could've landed there after hitting the gunman's head at some point. "Which fell on our attacker and nearly knocked him unconscious. He barely managed to hurriedly lift the gun and fire at his own head once we could hear the police running up the steps. He's dead and Kid escaped in the chaos."

Hakuba shook his head in a resigned matter as he commented. "For detectives we're going to have to break the law a lot during this whole mess, aren't we? And Kuroba, I'm not going to stop you from leaving, so go. Just make sure you get yourself checked into a hospital later. We won't tell the police that you got hit, so no one will be able to use it against you. Just say you were in the wrong place at the wrong time during a gang fight or something. Then pretend you have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to get away with not telling them much."

"Thank you my dear tantei. How about we meet to discuss this all the day after tomorrow. That should be clear. But for now," Kuroba strolled over to the window and stood on the sill, facing hem with his usual mocking smirk. "Ja ne," he shouted as he jumped out the window. The police came in a few seconds later.

"The day after tomorrow's fine," Hakuba whispered as he stood up.

Shinichi gave an amused look back. "At 22 Beika Block, Second Street. Sixteen-thirty. Kuroba will have his own way of finding out the time, I'm sure."

Another amused look and a statement Hakuba almost didn't hear. "I just hope you're willing to tolerate the company of some other people involved."

_It should be interesting to see whether or not they can withstand each other's company for long enough._ Shinichi though amused as he watched Hakuba get up and go tell the story to the police. If it weren't for the mansion case, Shinichi thought he probably would've been a bit surprised at how easily lying came to the blond. Hakuba seemed like the straightforward, honest type. Still, he could be a pretty decent actor when he wanted to be.

Not that playing dead over a camera was particularly hard, but all detectives had to be able too hide what they were really thinking if they wanted to trap the criminal.

"Conan-kun! Conan-kun! Are you here? We heard gunshots and one of the officers says you were headed up here!" called a very familiar voice. Of all the people he'd rather not have seeing one of _them_, Ran was near the top of the list.

"Uh, I'm right here Ran-neechan!" Shinichi responded, running toward her. Maybe then they could get out of here and Ran wouldn't have to see.

But it was too late. As he was running up to her, she saw the corpse of the man clothed in black. The shocked look on her face said as much. But she turned back to him and hurriedly asked, "Are you alright Conan-kun? What happened here?"

"I'm alright Ran-neechan, I just hit my head. That man attacked us because he wanted to kill Kaitou Kid and we were in the way. The man had a gun, and ended up killing himself when we heard the police coming. Kid got away though."

And then Ran, being a female, did something Shinichi hadn't really expected. If there was one things Shinichi didn't think he'd ever understand, no matter how great a detective he became, it was females. Girls, women, teenagers, all girls were usually such a headache. He was glad that most of the time the only thing he had to bother figuring out about girls was whether they were the culprit or not. Or lying about a case.

Ran was even harder to decipher than most women. And honestly, she was as good as her mom in the intimidation department when she got mad or annoyed enough.

She hugged him, picked him up, and carried him out of the room as she said, "I'm glad you're okay. . ." But it felt like there was something more, just dangling unsaid on the tip of her tongue. Something Shinichi felt like he should've heard in his mind, should have known what she was going to say. Everyone was predictable at some point. But he had no clue. Whatever Ran had been thinking, it stayed safe and private in her own mind. And his shoulder, which was huddled up against Ran, felt wet though his shirt. As if a raindrop had fallen on it.

_But why's she crying? I'm fine, _Shinichi thought, before he quickly dismissed it as her being mushy, sympathetic, grateful he wasn't hurt, and sorry for him for seeing someone kill themselves, despite the fact that it had been a madman out to kill them. Even with all the deaths they'd both seen, she was still crying for "Conan-kun's" innocence.

True innocence was something Shinichi hadn't had in over ten years. Before he was the age he now appeared to be.

They left. Ran told her father they were leaving early and they did. They got on a bus to go back to the Detective Agency.

But for some reason, right up to the moment the set foot through the door, Ran never let go of his hand for a moment.

* * *

Note: 22 Beika Block, Second Street is Agasa's house. The address is from The Girl From the Black Organization and the University Professor Murder Case.

Also, for those of you who were asking or didn't catch this, Hakuba wasn't actually the murderer. I just felt like messing with the guy's head, and thus came this idea. :D


	6. Information

Man I've kept you waiting forever on this. I have lots of excuses, but I have a feeling you probably don't want to hear them. . . But the point is that this is finally out! I'm sorry I couldn't manage to give you an extra long chapter as compensation, but I think that 7,300 words is a pretty good length. So, take Empty Words as compensation. It's about on the same note that the later part of this chapter would be if it were written in Ran's pov, so give it a look. Please.

Disclaimer: Anyone who think I own this is an idiot. And if you attempt to sue me I will get premission from Aoyama-sensei to have Kisaki-sensei represent me, so HA!

A review a day keeps writer's block away! So read and review!

And lastly, enjoy chapter six. And here's to breaking 50,000 words! Yay!

* * *

_T-This might actually be it. After all this time,_thought Haibara Ai, cooped up in her lab in the basement of Agasa-hakase's. Her hand was trembling as she ran through the tests, pouring chemicals, putting samples under microscopes. _Why are my hands shaking? I'm a scientist, this is just another experiment. It'll probably be a failure anyway, like all the others so far._

Ai's hands didn't usually shake. In fact, in all her experiments with the APTX4869 up until now, this had only ever happened once. When she discovered the first prototype temporary cure. Still, Ai thought she knew better by now. The likelihood that she had just found the cure was almost absolute zero.

As some American inventor had said, "I have not failed. I've just found ten thousand different ways that won't work." Despite the wording, it felt to Ai like she was failing. After all, there was only one result that she wanted. All the others, while potentially interesting if she took time to examine them and learn their effects and such, were not what she wanted.

All she was trying to do was find a cure for the Apotoxin. It was a truly brilliant poison, despite its occasional ineffectiveness.

Even more amazing was its ability to create the perfect disguise, or to give someone a new chance. The ability to take ten years off someone's life. For anyone under the age of thirty, shrinking them into a child.

For most scientists, examining such a substance would be a dream come true. In Ai's case, part of her wished it hadn't ever existed. But then again, if she hadn't invented APTX4869, both she and Kudo-kun would be dead right now, and the Organization would have gotten away with several other things that Kudo-kun had both directly and indirectly prevented.

After all, if one's conducting a thorough investigating into whether or not a victim is somehow still alive, it tends to leave less time for committing murders.

She took a deep breath. There was no reason for her to be this excited, despite the fact that based on her data so far, this might actually be the cure. Or at least another temporary cure. Ai always made enough of each potential cure that she'd be able to run it through one test at a time. It was impractical to make more.

Making more than that would mean she had hope, that she really wanted it to work, and that she expected it to work. Admitting that, even through her private actions or thoughts, was something Ai would never do. It just wasn't in her nature. After all, growing up in the Black Organization didn't exactly give a person much reason to hope.

Hope was something that could be taken advantage of and used to break you. Hope was something that always got crushed in the end.

Still, life had been a lot less disappointing since her transformation. Some of the things Kudo-kun had managed t pull off amazed her. Slowly, Ai was starting to hope again.

But that wasn't good for her work, so she pushed her hope, excitement, and anticipation as far in the back of her mind as possible, replacing them with knowledgeable indifference.

Indifference happened to be one emotion Ai was particularly good with. By now, it was easy for her to resume the role of a scientist, testing something she'd probably never see used anyway, curious about its effects.

There was the third test. Ai had devised ten tests in all, and one after that, also known as sneaking the prototype into Kudo-kun's lunch or something. Whether he knew about her little experiment or not. Though really, most of the time the scientist even considered it, telling him was an automatic no-no in her mind. For one thing, it would minimize her chance of getting to observe the transformation rather than experience it. That would be infinitely more valuable to her research.

His reaction last time she'd slipped him a working temporary cure had been hilarious. Still, Ai would probably have to tell him next time.

From here on out, the tests would get longer. The third test was a lot farther than most of the others had gotten, but still, it wasn't enough. There was no reason to start hoping. Not till it passed eight, something which would probably never happen.

Ai was going to try though. If only because she owed someone that much. (1)

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_They're running late,_Shinichi thought to himself as he glanced up from his book, The Hounds of Bakersfield. He'd never bothered counting, but if he had to guess, this would be somewhere around the three hundred fiftieth time he'd read that particular Holmes novel. In his opinion, it was still as good as the second time.

Because everyone knew books were never quite as good once you knew how it ended. Really good books however, were still excellent even after you'd already read them.

Excellent books, such as all with Sherlock Holmes were. Or at least, the ones by Conan Doyle. There were a couple other adaptations that were okay, but for the most part, Shinichi was a purist.

Currently, he was sitting on the professor's couch at four o'clock, waiting for the others to show up. Shinichi had no idea how things were going to go, but he knew one thing for certain.

This was going to be interesting.

After all, they were mixing the two great high school detectives of Japan, their British kinda-rival (Hakuba probably would have gained that status if they ran into the guy more often), and Japan's most infamous thief. And expecting everyone other to cooperate and work together. There was no way it couldn't be interesting.

And the doorbell rang. _Finally,_Shinichi thought as he got up to open it. Across the threshold was a lightly uncomfortable-looking Hakuba Saguru.

"Sorry I'm late, there was some traffic on the way over and it slowed me down."

"Don't worry about it. You're the first one here anyway," Shinichi replied, welcoming him in before plopping back down and resuming his reading so he could wait for the others to arrive.

"You don't happen to have another copy laying around here somewhere, do you?" asked the blond meitantei, and Shinichi grinned to himself. Finally, another detective his age who stood in the right place when it came to Sherlock Holmes. He was stumped as to how Hattori could not be a fan of the greatest detective to ever be written about or exist in real life.

"No, but I've got a couple other volumes laying around here somewhere, help yourself."

Hakuba nodded a quick thanks as he walked over to the coffee table and picked up another Sherlock Holmes novel. And thus the two read in silence until there was a knock at the door, signaling the arrival of the third teen.

However, when the door was opened, both Hattori and Kuroba were waiting outside.

"Hey guys, we're here! Tantei-han and I met on the way here, so we decided to come together," Kuroba said gleefully as he walked in, promptly seating himself on the couch without waiting for an invitation. Still, he looked a little strange, and kind of uncomfortable, Shinichi had realized. Of course, that was probably just due to being an infamous kaitou in the presence of three meitantei. All of whom now knew his face.

"What's he doing here?" said two voices at once, one speaking with a loud, annoyed Osaka drawl, the other more calm but still looking slightly irritated.

No doubt a certain British detective was still annoyed about being beaten by Hattori at the Tantei Koshein, despite all previous remarks about substandard detectives.

"You two know each other?" asked Kuroba, surprised.

"Hattori, Hakuba found out. Hakuba, Hattori's known for months. Get over it because we're not here to argue."

While they didn't argue, body language said that the two were far from friends. Tentative allies perhaps, but only if they could still dislike each other greatly while falling under that category.

_That's weird; they weren't this against each other at the Tantei Koshein. What's got them so agitated?_ Shinichi wondered as he motioned for everyone to sit down in Agasa-hakase's living room.

"So then, I believe you had something you wanted to explain?" Hakuba inquired patiently.

"You mean Kudo's _finally_ going to spill _everything_that's been going on with those men in black?" Hattori asked, though with reason. Shinichi did realize that he hadn't actually told anyone everything. Of all people, Hattori and Agasa-hakase probably knew the most. Agasa-hakase because he helped and because Shinichi just hung around at his house a lot. Actually, Agasa-hakase was the closest thing he'd ever had to a grandfather that was actually close.

Hattori, on the other hand, just nagged him into spilling the beans as a rival and an equal.

"Yeah, I'm going fill you in on the basics. Calm down already."

"You mean you didn't tell me everything? Tantei-kun, I'm hurt."

Hakuba glanced at the magician and commented, "You know Kuroba, you can drop the titles. It's rather annoying, and it's not as if anyone thinks you're in costume. There's nothing for you to spill anymore, I don't need my proof. Just give me a reason not to tell the police who you are and get credit for turning you in."

"Tell anyone about any of this, and I'll kill you," spoke a young voice from the basement doorway, startling them all. Standing in the doorway, holding a gun loosely in her right hand, was Haibara Ai. She had a blank, cold look in her eye and a slightly crazed half smile on her face.

"Ha-Haibara!" Shinichi exclaimed. The more analytical part of his mind was hoping and holding fast to the notion that this was simply another act. Another bluff to scare him, like the incident in the hospital and the time Haibara had introduced herself for who and what she really was. The rest of his mind was doing what anyone does at least partially when a gun is aimed at them or their companions. The rest of his mind–not a huge portion though—was panicking.

If he'd allowed himself to turn, Shinichi would've seen a cold, indifferent Poker Face automatically cover Kuroba's features, as if it was armor that could protect him from the bullets. He was looking for escape routes out of the corner of his eyes and doing mental calculations on his chances of making it out of there without dying.

Hattori, on the other hand, was the most relaxed of the four. Naturally he was still anxious, but had decided that it was probably like the times Shinichi had told him about, the ones where Haibara had bluffed readiness to kill him before. Despite his decision though, Hattori was worried. It wasn't as if he knew her well.

Hakuba had reacted the most rashly. He was closed and guarded, in a defensive stance, his hand reaching into the chest pocket of his jacket. The only place he ever kept his handgun.

Aiming at Hakuba's head, probably because he had been the one to make that comment, Haibara's grinned widened and her eyes hardened even more as she tightened her finger on the trigger.

The scientist pulled the trigger and there was a bang that Shinichi associated with gunshots from experience. However, no one dropped dead or keeled over. Instead, on the floor stretching between Haibara and Hakuba was a white banner that said, in big, red letters, "Is it good for detectives to be such gullible idiots?"

Shinichi sweatdropped. It figured. _I guess it's better than roses_, he thought to himself as he heard the others reply to her actions.

"Oi ojou-chan, what was that for?" Hattori shouted, looking rather annoyed. Which made sense, considering he'd just been given a death threat by a not-eight year old that had already graduated college and used to work for the Black Organization. All of which he knew, making Shinichi wonder why there hadn't been any swearing. It wasn't as if he had to worry about any children hearing. All remarks about the "terminally short" aside.

He didn't bother figuring it out though, Hattori was Hattori. Shinichi would be the first to say that their attitudes were a bit different. Perhaps more than a bit. Or maybe they were actually more similar than he was willing to admit.

"If the Organization finds out that any of you know about this, you'll all be dead, along with anyone else they think knows. So it would be a good idea for you to keep your mouths shut about it Tantei-san, Kaitou-san," was Haibara's only reply before she turned on her heels and walked back down the stairs.

"That's not something you see every day. Perhaps someone would be willing to explain why an eight year old girl was just aiming a gun to my head?" Hakuba asked.

Kuroba was poorly concealing his curiosity on the subject as well. However, Hakuba continued after looking like he'd had a slight epiphany. "You're not the only one who's been shrunk are you?"

"Well, about that, no," Shinichi replied. _Man, this is going to take awhile._

----------------------

_Why did that British detective bring a gun to this meeting?_Ai thought to herself as she examined the progress of her prototype antidote. It had just past the seventh test, which was farther than a good deal of the others had gotten. Most of them had been knocked out by the fifth test, and there were only twelve complete failures that had made it this far.

Though, nothing was really a complete failure. A scientist has to learn from their mistakes, it brought them closer to their goal. Besides, it would still be possible to learn information that would help her later on even if this one failed.

_For example, if prototype 217 fails, than I can rule out apecomyn as one of the ingredients in the actual cure. Though I'm starting to doubt I'll be able to find it, even though it definitely exists. The chance of happening upon the cure when I can barely remember any of the drug's data is rather low. Some would even say depressing._

_Though I don't really understand that. After all, the chances of managing to accidentally make a drug that was capable of causing a person's cells to degenerate by ten years is even lower than three percent,_Haibara thought to herself as she waited for enough time to pass that she'd be able to see the results. After all, there wasn't much to do when she was simply testing things.

It gave her time to ponder her own philosophy and why she was stupid enough to hope and to believe that Kudo-kun was capable of taking down the Organization, believing she'd be able to find the cure.

"Really, I'm not surprised. Even if I've pulled this trick before, Kudo-kun still fell for it. It's almost sad how little faith he seems to have in me," Haibara murmured to herself with a sigh, swiveling in her chair. "Of course, he could have just been a reaction to the gun. But somehow, I'm not sure."

It was true that for someone who gave trust rather easily, Kudo-kun could be very suspicious. He was getting even more constantly suspicious of strangers and more observant as they got deeper into the fight against the Black Organization. It was necessary.

At the beginning, he hadn't wanted to trust her. Not at all. The professor had to convince him that it was fine, and even then, he'd still been scathing.

Ai didn't particularly care what others thought of her most of the time. The only people whose opinions really mattered to her were those of her friends, Ayumi-chan, Genta-kun, and Mitsuhiko-kun. After all, to be scorned by children so young and so innocent and carefree, one had to be a truly bad person. Even if they didn't know anything about who she used to be, Ai realized that young children were often much more perceptive than given credit for. If they didn't think badly of her, it had to mean something.

No matter how much the miniature scientist felt unworthy of their trust and friendship at times. Times that were admittedly growing less and less frequent.

The only other two living people whose opinions she cared about, that she had to deal with regularly at least, were Kudo-kun and Agasa-hakase.

There was also Mouri-chan, but they didn't interact very much. So Ai was fulfilling her promise. Even if no one else knew about it, and would never know if she broke it, that wouldn't happen. She owed several people that much, primarily Mouri-chan and Kudo-kun. (2)

It didn't hurt too much that Kudo-kun fell for her tricks so easily. Knowing who she used to be, it both explained the situation and made it easier to deal with.

In all truth, as Sherry she'd been a murderer, a member of the most dangerous crime syndicate of the modern era. Yes, most of her those whose blood lay on her hands were victims of APTX4869, but not all of them.

Ai had been a member of the Black Organization. For one with a decent rank, something which she had even higher than, that translated to murderer. All members of the Black Organization who knew anything of real use, had any small amount of real power, were murderers, along with many that didn't.

To this day, Shiho Miyano had killed two people directly, with her own gun. Then she'd eliminated the evidence. Only twice because Shiho had specialized in chemistry, and poisons were almost all that she dealt with. However, that wasn't always the case.

_I wonder, was it wrong of me to try and commit suicide?_ That was another train of thought that plagued Ai's mind frequently. All she'd been trying to do was escape, to die by her own hands instead of theirs. _After all, if death is certain, it's better to do it your own way, and to take as many of your enemies down with you as possible. That way you're not weak. That way you don't die at someone else's command, you're still your own person, and you still have your dignity._

Those were Ai's honest beliefs about death. That, among many other things. However, another thing she often wondered was whether or not it was wrong to be slightly upset that she'd failed, that she was still alive. While she wasn't weak, Ai knew she was something of a quitter. She willingly acknowledged it in fact. After all, she'd tried to commit suicide on multiple occasions, and every time it had been either dumb luck or the interference of another that had let her come out of it alive. Most often it was actually both, doubled with some seriously good timing.

If Ai was at all religious, she probably would have taken that as a sign that perhaps Kami-sama hadn't forsaken her. However, Ai wasn't religious, preferring to shift her opinions depending on what would keep her from braking down, on what she needed to believe. Still, when it did happen, her beliefs never left the realms of Atheism and Agnosticism.

So she had another chance, a chance to make up for the murderers she'd committed, the research she'd directed, and the families she'd torn apart. The lives she'd destroyed.

Though actually, Ai didn't include her own life in that tally. As far as she was concerned, being stuck as a child, in the ultimate disguise, with a chance to really live this time, was much better. Much better than growing up under the command of the Organization and the threat of them harming her oneesan.

As the liquid the prototype had been dumped in began to fizz, Ai turned back to her research. Though the eighth test wasn't quite over, it looked like her new prototype would pass this one too. Who knew, she might even have another temporary cure in that test tube. Either way, her testing for this one would be finished by dinnertime.

-------------------

"So you're sure that Mouri-chan and Tomoyo-san won't mind us coming along?" asked Hakuba as the four rivals walked over to Beika City's fifth district.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. We'll just tell them that Kudo and I were out and ran into you guys. We recognized Hakuba from the Tantei Koshein and invited them along. If we need a reason, it's because Kudo here was PO'ed and knows I don't like Hakuba, so it was his revenge. Easy."

"That's actually not a bad plan," Kaito commented nonchalantly.

"Of course not, it was my idea," Hattori retorted, obviously somewhat insulted at the very notion that it could be a bad idea.

"It doesn't matter, the point is it works. Come on, we're here," Kudo said with exasperation audible in his voice as he turned and began walking up the slightly familiar stairs of the Mouri Detective Office.

Though that was not something he would voice aloud. No matter if any suspicions existed to the contrary, detectives thrived on proof. Sure, they had their hunches, but what did it really matter if this stuff couldn't be backed up?

For the moment, Kaito was perfectly content with Kudo thinking that the only time he'd been to the Mouri household was that time after the Memories Egg. . . incident. That really was the best word to describe it.

Neither Hakuba nor Hattori had any idea he'd been there at all. _Well, actually, with Kudo's tendency to tell Hattori what's going on, he probably knows about that too. Still, I'd rather none of them knew just how often I've spied on this place. Especially in person. That wouldn't be a happy conversation._

That wasn't exactly something that would require a genius to figure it out.

As Kudo reached for the doorknob, he began slipping on his mask with such ease that it was almost disconcerting. In the thief's opinion, detectives didn't like using deceit very much, and they often didn't excel at it.

Boy, would he be proved wrong in the upcoming months. After all, the best evidence is a criminal slipping up and saying something incriminating that proves they committed a crime. Sometimes it was the tiniest thing that they had to catch or trick out of someone. And if the three meitantei weren't at least able to do that, well, he wouldn't know them by those reputations. Their spotless records (concerning all cases but himself) would have been tarnished long ago, and they wouldn't be so famous.

But being Kaito, he didn't put that much thought into it. After all, he didn't have much reason to worry at the moment, and there was nothing to about that to cause concern in the immediately foreseeable future.

Kaito was first and foremost, a goofy teenage magician. Who was afraid of fish, but that was irrelevant. He was a serious kaitou only on heists or when planning them, and even then. . . Well, one couldn't exactly claim that all of his tricks were "mature" or anywhere near necessary.

In the few seconds that it took to open the door and call out "Tadaima, Ran-neechan!" Kudo was the picture of a normal seven year old boy.

However, the façade lasted only a few seconds, because Mouri-chan had apparently broken standard routine. She didn't respond.

So, looking puzzled, Kudo went to search the apartment for her, still calling out "Ran-neechan? Ran-neechan, where are you? Ran-neechan, are you there?"

Finally he got to the door of Mouri-chan's bedroom. Upon opening it however, the four boys saw something that none of them expected.

----------------------

By the point that Shinichi reached Ran's bedroom, he was getting worried. As illogical as that admittedly was, it was Ran. And it wasn't as if the apartment was very large, Ran should've been able to hear him the first time no matter where she was. The only exception would be if she was doing something that made enough noise that she couldn't hear her young charge, but that would mean that they'd be able to hear something too.

Despite that, Shinichi did expect to find Ran (and probably Kazuha-chan too) in her bedroom. What he didn't expect was to see Ran curled up against Kazuha-chan's chest while sitting on the bed, not even seeming to notice their presence. However, Kazuha-chan clearly did, as she was glaring at them over Ran's head. It was quite an intense glare too; her wrath for whatever they'd done was not something he wanted to be around when Hattori experienced it.

Because, after all, who'd blame a cute little boy? It was one of the few advantages of his current state.

A slight jerking motion Kazuha-chan made with her head clearly indicated that she wanted them all out **now**. And, having a sense of self-preservation, the boys obliged.

About three minutes later, the two came out. Shinichi noticed that Ran looked off. Really off, and in a very obvious way.

Ran's eyes were bright red, and her breathing jerky, audible, and unsteady, as if she'd just stopped hyperventilating. She looked as if she'd been a mess only a minute ago, and her hair was still covering her face. Ran was also slightly hunched over, and her movements looked tired, almost dazed. She held her chest very, very tightly, as a young child might cuddle a stuffed animal when they were scared.

Shinichi might not have known what caused his best friend to be like this, but he mentally swore to get appropriate revenge on them for whatever had happened. Very, very harsh and painful revenge. Within the law of course, but as far as he could push it. No one made Ran hurt this badly if he could help it. The fact that he hurt her was something he was not happy about, but it was something that he could not avoid.

"Ran. . . –neechan, what's wrong?" he asked softly, almost forgetting to call her his older sister. To forget would be bad, to forget would imply something that might shock her, or make her feel even worse. That wasn't something he wanted to do, especially when she looked as if she was about to go to pieces, and had only just collected herself again.

There was no way to tell how long or how much Ran had been crying, but judging by the large, defined water stains on Kazuha-chan's shirt and her own, she had cried a lot.

"It's nothing Conan-kun. I just got upset over something at school. That's all. Don't worry, I'm fine," Ran said with her shaky voice in a failed attempt to soothe him. Whatever was bothering her, there was no way it was "nothing". At least, it was much more than that to her.

"You sure Ran-neechan?" Shinichi repeated. One problem Ran suffered occasionally was that she felt the need to prove that she was strong. True, it hadn't happened in awhile, but things like that had been rather frequent for a short period when they were younger.

Ran had started karate at the age of ten, and now had a black belt. At the moment she was good friends with the other girls in her classes, but that hadn't always been the case. From the ages twelve to fourteen, Ran had been the only girl in her class. The only girl among six other boys, even though only one of them was a higher belt than she was and only two others were on her level. Something about that had made her feel the need to prove herself, to prove that she was just as strong and skilled as the boys, if not better. This was only made worse by the fact that her sensei was a bit sexist, and had on several occasions offered her a chance to rest when she looked like she really needed it. That wouldn't be a problem, but the boys weren't usually given the same opportunity.

No matter how much she did need a break, Ran only ever took it if he made her. She wasn't weak, and was willing to push herself as far as possible to keep up. Most of the time though, she was already even with the others or surpassing them.

Then, one of the boys she had to fight with occasionally had been horribly sexist, and stuck by the philosophy that he shouldn't hit a girl. He just sat there, only giving enough effort to stop himself from being seriously hurt. Just standing there, mocking her with a serene, slightly bored smile on his face. Shinichi had seen it once. He knew and he was quite mad about the insult to Ran.

For unknown reasons, the boy who'd done that seemed to have horrible luck, repeatedly finding that something he'd left at his desk was gone, or had his lunch knocked onto him. Something that happened even more than that was him getting hit on the head by a soccer ball whenever he strayed near practice, pre-game warm up, or even one of the players juggling and dribbling a ball.

Though he'd gone to the principal about it several times, nothing had ever been proved. No one had ever been punished for targeting him.

And so Shinichi had had his revenge.

"You sure you're alright Neechan? You look pretty. . ." Hattori paused, struggled to quickly find a word that wouldn't insult Ran or make him a target of Kazuha-chan's ire. "Upset."

"Do tell us if we're imposing, we don't intend to inconvenience you."

Ran apparently hadn't noticed either Hakuba or Kuroba in her state, because she started at his voice. "Hakuba-kun, what're you doing here?"

"Oh, Hakuba and I ran into your friends over here and they invited us to lunch with you guys. That's all," Kuroba replied in his usual carefree, childish attitude.

"Good for you," Kazuha-chan said curtly as she snuck worried glances over to Ran out of the corner of her eye every ten seconds or so.

"I'd actually forgotten about that. Just give me a minute to take care of something," Ran said before she disappeared back into her room. Kazuha-chan followed with one more glare at all of them and a worried look on her face.

"Say, you don't think those two are together now, do you?" Kuroba asked jokingly.

Of course there was a bit of overreaction. Hakuba only glared at him for being an immature idiot this time, but Shinichi and Hattori thought it well within their rights to yell "Of course not you baka!" and "No you idiot!" respectively.

"Maa maa, sheesh, I was just kidding."

"It wasn't funny."

"Okay, let's go," Ran said as they came back out. She looked slightly better now, but she was still a mess. Her voice sounded flat, sort of hollow, and Shinichi wondered how he hadn't noticed that before.

"Kay then, lead on," Kuroba said happily as he gestured toward the door. Shinichi wasn't fooled. He saw the odd, concerned look that the magician had sent Ran's way.

There was only one good thing he could pull out of this: He wasn't imagining Ran's condition. So he wasn't going insane at least. Then again, being on the same page as the thief might have just proved him insane. However, the panic that wanted to rise at what he saw did seem unnecessary. As a detective, Shinichi had learned to trust his instincts and go with his hunches, but he wanted this one to be wrong so badly that he pushed it to the back of his mind, resolving not to think about it again until he had some proof that he could be right.

They walked out and toward the bus stop, for there were now too many of them to fit in anything short a minivan. And none of them had one at the moment. In fact, none of them even had driver's licenses yet, much less a car to drive. Though Shinichi supposed that either Hakuba or Kuroba might have one that he didn't know about, it was doubtful.

Ran silently got into the bus first, dropping her fare in the bucket next to the door. As that was happening, Kazuha-chan, who had somehow maneuvered so that she was in the very back, hissed to the boys, "Listen, Ran-chan's upset, so if any of you do _anything_ to make it worse, I swear you'll regret it."

Shinichi nodded as he noticed Hattori barely hide a gulp as he agreed. Kazuha-chan was being particularly scary now, and while perhaps she wasn't quite good enough to punch a hole in concrete or dent metal with her bare hands. . . Well, there was a reason that the phrase "God hath no fury like a scorned woman" had come into being. The shrunken detective thought that this instance was probably the perfect example of such.

Though he couldn't quite remember the quote, actually. It might've been "Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman", but that didn't sound right. Either way it was appropriate.

They got on and sat toward the back near Ran and Kuroba, for he hadn't heard Kazuha-chan's threat.

"Ran-neechan, where're we going to eat?" Shinichi asked, startling Ran out of her thoughts.

"Oh, um, I forgot. Gomen Conan-kun, but you'll have to ask Kazuha-chan," Ran replied as she looked at him without really seeming to see him. She had also sounded really distant. Whatever was wrong, it couldn't be good.

_But that goes without saying. After all, how often is something going wrong 'good'?_Shinichi mused before adding an afterthought. _Unless something's going wrong for our enemies that is, but that's not quite what I meant._

"We're going to a Sushi restaurant about ten minutes away. Ran-chan's had it before; she says it's really good there. Right Ran-chan?"

"Huh? Oh, umm, yeah. It is."

"Something got you down Neechan?" asked Hattori, in a way that Shinichi wasn't sure whether it would earn him Kazuha-chan's wrath or not.

"No, nothing. Why do you ask?"

"You're looking a bit. . . stressed is all," said Hakuba, before their comments abruptly ended courtesy of a death glare from Kazuha-chan, the look on Ran's face, and the hostility radiating from Shinichi at the thought that Ran might be hurt.

None of them were particularly interested in getting hit by one of his soccer balls or knocked out.

For awhile there was just silence, but that awkwardness quickly passed. The teens made idle small talk as they waited for their stop, but Shinichi didn't stop watching Ran, in case something really was wrong. And judging by the amazingly small amount she contributed to the conversation—She was a teenage girl after all—there was no need for confirmation any more. Something was very wrong.

Shinichi just had to figure out what she was upset about, and just how bad it was.

-----------

There was no point in internally debating it anymore, and wanting to believe otherwise was futile. Ran was very depressed. Not enough that she stopped trying to look normal for the sake of those around her though.

Which just meant that Ran's depression was even worse than it appeared, because the symptoms she failed to cover up still existed.

She was miserable. It was obvious that Ran didn't want to be there, that her laugh and her smiles were so utterly fake. The only times they gained the tiniest spark of happiness was when she was talking to Kazuha, or occasionally, to Shinichi himself.

That was a comforting thought, that even as Conan Ran was happier from just talking to him. He hoped that he was able to cheer her up even more as himself. Which brought up a thought. Perhaps it would help if he risked a call while they were out.

There was probably a way to make it work. Of course, it might make her even worse in a different way if she was in one of those phases where there was increased suspicion of his true identity. Correct suspicions, obviously. Otherwise the phone call wouldn't be a problem.

If he did it, they'd both want to talk for longer than he could say he was in the bathroom. Though the fact that she was eating out with a bunch of their friends (and acquaintances) might change that.

What was the risk of saying he'd seen Ayumi-chan outside, and was going to say hi?

_No, that wouldn't work. Because if I really went to say hi to Ayumi-chan, it'd get dragged on for a while because she'd want to talk to me and hang out with me. It's not plausible._

_Maybe Haibara then? Even if it's not entirely believable for her to be there all by herself, I could say that I didn't see him from the window, but he was there when I got back._

_That is presuming, of course, that we're seated near a window,_Shinichi thought dryly. No matter how well he planned things, at least that much would still be left to chance, and it was frustrating, damn it! He was trying to cheer Ran up! He didn't have time for this!

Of course, that brought up the notion that he should be calling Ran more often anyways. . . but dwelling on that wasn't his priority at the moment.

Absorbed in his thoughts, Shinichi just followed the others until he realized that they were inside the restaurant and about to sit down. And their table was just barely in view of the window if he picked the right seat! _Yes!_

After talking to the "tantei-niichan" for a few minutes so things weren't too suspicious, Shinichi prepared to make his escape.

"Ne Ran-neechan, I just saw Haibara-chan outside. Can I go say hi? Please, please Ran-neechan?" Shinichi begged, a bit disgruntled at having to resort to that to make sure Ran would agree.

"Go ahead Conan-kun. Say hi to Haibara-chan for me," Ran said as she absently nodded her consent. Shinichi could practically feel the weird looks he was getting from the other guys, especially Hakuba, whose first meeting with Haibara had been a death threat. The scientist was special that way.

"Un!" Shinichi agreed as he got up and left the table. He made his way to the front of the restaurant and walked out, ducking into the building next door as soon as he was out of sight of the window. Once there he went into one of the bathroom stalls to hide before finally pulling out his older self's cell phone and dialing Ran's number.

She picked it up quickly, before the second ring even started. He knew she'd be hearing her phone's ringtone of the song "Mysterious" at that moment. (3)

"Moshi moshi, Ran speaking."

"Hey Ran, it's me," Shinichi spoke, making sure to be extra careful to keep the bowtie in between his mouth. The last thing he needed would be to slip up and have her wonder why he suddenly sounded like Conan.

"Shinichi?" Ran was startled, but the tone was different from the other times he'd called. Flatter maybe. Like she didn't care that he was calling as much as she usually did.

"Yep. Just taking time off my case to call. So, what're you doing?"

"I'm out eating lunch you baka." _Why's Ran so mad at me? I can practically_ feel _the glare in that sentence._

"I'm not an idiot! Who're you eating with anyway?"

"Are too! And for your information, I'm eating with Kazuha-chan. We're at a nice little restaurant. You should try it sometime **if you ever get time off your case that is!**"

"Oi Ran, what's wrong? Yeah, I'm still on the case, but what're you so mad about?"

Shinichi could hear Ran the strength of Ran's fury in her voice, and was suddenly very glad she didn't know who he was. It would save him from getting hit. **"What's wrong? What's wrong is that I'm sitting here eating and you have the GALL to—to, oh, forget it! You wouldn't understand anyway! Good Bye!"**

_What the? Why's Ran suddenly so mad at me. I didn't do anything. . . unless Kuroba impersonated me and did something!_Shinichi ran back towards the restaurant, his speed fueled by his anger at that thought, and potentially at Kuroba as well.

Not wanting to worry anyone (Ran), he tried to put on a calm, childish façade as he came back in. He didn't think it worked too well.

As he sat back down, Shinichi hissed to Kuroba "You are so dead for whatever you said to Ran while impersonating me!"

Kuroba looked startled, before replying in the same hushed tone. "I didn't do anything! What'd you do to make Mouri-chan so furious anyway?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"I don't believe you."

"Well it's true!"

"I'm telling you I didn't do anything!"

"Maybe Mouri-chan's PMSing then?"

"That's not it! She's too furious for it to be that!"

"Then why's she mad at you?"

"I'm asking you, Mr. Can-Impersonate-Anyone-Flawlessly."

"I'd like to point out that I overheard Ran saying that she thought you were acting strangely that time at the—wait, that's an insult to my skills! Anyway, whatever happened is your fault!"

"Are you two going to stop whispering anytime soon?" Kazuha-chan interjected. Actually, she looked ticked too, but not as much as Ran.

"Hey Neechan, what're ya so mad at Kudo for?" asked Hattori, probably in an attempt to diffuse the situation. Or he was just trying to find out why Ran had shouted at Shinichi. With Hattori, it could be hard to tell sometimes. Shinichi actually thought that out of all of them (not including Kuroba, he didn't know what he thought about that yet) Hattori was probably the best at tricking people into reacting in a way that would trap them and force them to confess.

Shinichi could say from personal experience that having that happen to you wasn't fun. In fact, it usually made the guilty party panic. A lot.

"Reasons. He's just irritating me today. Besides, that idiot deserves to be yelled at," Ran said, and that was that. Everyone dropped it.

By the time the meal was over though, the energy Ran's anger had given her had begun to fade, and she was lost in depression and thoughts again.

_If this keeps up, I don't know what I'm gonna have to do. I can't stand Ran being depressed, I just can't! There's got to be some way to cheer her up, right?_Shinichi thought as they paid and headed back home. Kazuha-chan had managed to jerk Ran out of her isolation a little bit, but it wasn't much comfort. She was still so sad, and it pained him to see her like that.

He wanted Ran to be happy, damn it! Happy and safe! That was the whole reason he was protecting her, that he hadn't told her his secret yet. Why wouldn't she cheer up?

_Was any of this my fault? The idea that I did that to Ran. . .is just terrible._

_

* * *

_

Notes:

(1) and (2): This is a reference to my oneshot Oneesan. You don't have to read it, but it would explain my take on some of Haibara's thoughts. And what she means by this.

_Apecomyn _is not an actual chemical. I know nothing about constructing antidotes that cause people's cells to degenerate ten years, so I made it up. As far as I know, I own it.

(3): Yes, Mysterious as in the Detective Conan theme. I loved that one, it's about as good as the most recent one (which is also really good).


	7. Tricked

Here's chapter seven! Hope I haven't kept you waiting _too _long. This chapter's in honor of the Daily Show with John Stewart the other day, when John Stewart eviscerated Jim Cramer, who's become the avatar of sorts for all the failure to report the financial condition. Seriously, the guy should win a Peabody for that episode! Now if only that had been Dick Cheney (yeah, I know I probably spelled his name wrong. In my opinion, the guy doesn't deserve the respect of having his name spelled right anyway. And you all know who I mean!) or one of the CEOs of the companies majorly responsible for the economic crisis. Someone who really deserves it. If only.

Heh, I like the word eviscerate. It's so graphic. "To carve a person's guts out". Really, you gotta love that word.

Also, you should know that I am now adding a translation section at the bottom, because I really like using Japanese in my fics, and not everyone understands it. So if you don't understand a term, just look at the bottom.

While we're on that subject, I would like to ask you to all **IGNORE **the incomplete sentences, lack of grammar, repetition, and lack of commas and other punctuation when you get to the really long italics section (you'll see what I mean). The character thinking is to upset to even think coherently. It's part of the story and my way of expressing it. This story has angst as a genre for a reason, though I wish I'd been able to add romance to the list, since that applies to. In case you haven't realized by now, there are definitely pairings.

By the way, those who leave reviews will be thanked and given cyber cookies, just as long as they keep silent about any opposition they have to my political opinions. Don't reign on my parade just because I dislike the Bush administration. But remember, review and get cyber cookies!

This is getting long, but this chapter is donated to Forgotten Lake, who's an awesome authoress with her own DCMK story, as well as a background AU for Detective Conan, and gave me the suggestion for the phone call. Thanks FL!

Disclaimer: Refer to previous chapters. If you don't realize by now that I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito, you're an idiot.

Enjoy.

* * *

"Ran-neechan, are you sure you're okay?" Shinichi asked as they stepped into the Detective Agency. He'd been wanting to ask for awhile now, even though she'd say it was fine, and he knew she'd say that. That was just the type of person Ran was, but he had to check anyway.

She was hurting. Badly. Shinichi wanted to help, wanted to make her feel better. He also wanted to know that he hadn't done this to her. Fear of finding that out, of who he knew might've done this, was tearing him up inside.

_Him_.

The thought that he'd caused his best friend, the girl he loved, this much pain, was awful. Yeah, he knew she was hurt because he couldn't tell her the truth, but that was for her own safety. Those secrets hurt him too, probably just as much. And this was so much worse than ever before.

"No, I'm fine. Don't worry Conan-kun." Of course Ran had said that. It didn't reassure Shinichi at all.

"If you're sure Neechan," Hattori remarked as he walked in, making himself comfortable lounging on one of the couches.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ran said, but she didn't mean it. You didn't have to be a meitantei to know that much. The despair in her voice was obvious, and she looked as if all she wanted was to isolate herself, to curl up and cry in a dark corner somewhere. "Please come in. Go ahead and sit down."

The boys and Kazuha-chan ended up doing so, but just as Ran was about to sit down, her cell phone rang.

Excusing herself, Ran said, "Oh, gomen. Don't mind me, just start talking." She picked up on her way out of the room, but she spoke before she reached the door. And the first thing out of her mouth, to the shock of everyone, was "Shinichi?!"

"What?" Hakuba asked, clearly confused. He wasn't the only one. Shinichi himself had absolutely no clue what was going on. After all, how could he be on the phone when he was in the same room as her, and clearly not anywhere near any sort of phone.

Except for the two cell phones in his pocket, but those didn't count. They weren't even on at the moment.

"Shinichi, why're you calling again so soon?" Was it just him, or was everyone glancing at him weirdly. And Kaito and Hattori weren't even bothering to be subtle about it, damn it! If they kept staring at him like that, Ran was going to notice something was up.

"No, there's nothing wrong with it. You just don't usually call twice in the same day," Ran said firmly, sounding indignant and dismissive. _I probably should call her more often. . ._Shinichi thought, and then the full implications of the conversation hit him like a ton of bricks.

_Who's calling Ran?! Who the hell is pretending to be me and calling Ran!? I didn't ask anyone to help me this time, what's going on?!_Shinichi hadn't asked anyone at all to call Ran as him recently, and that was the only time anyone had ever done so before. This was one more mystery he wished hadn't occurred. Murders were never good, but in a way, this was almost worse. **Someone was calling Ran and pretending to be him.**

_Apparently, someone doesn't have such restraints as what is inconvenient to me, or hurtful to Ran._ _And this is gonna make things worse for Ran_. Even though he had absolutely no clue who was already on the phone, Shinichi knew he hated them.

"Yes, things are fine. Now if you don't mind, I have company over."

Whatever the reply was, it must have been rather irritating and somewhat out of character for him, because Ran's lips thinned as she became visibly annoyed. If her last response had been tight and dismissive, this was ten times as bad. At least. "Shinichi, I have some _friends_ over. So shut up and get off the phone damn it!"

Ran hung up, not even giving the imposter a chance to reply. Shinichi's only thought was that he hoped the emphasis she'd put on the word "friends", and all implications that he _wasn't_ one, were simply due to the circumstances, and not because she hated him.

"Persistent jerk," muttered Kazuha-chan. Or at least that was what Shinichi thought it sounded like.

Did Ran and Kazuha-chan really think of him like that? Except that she'd have no reason to call him persistent. He hadn't called at all lately, with the exception of the time at the restaurant earlier. But Kazuha-chan sounded too annoyed for it to have been just once before. Which meant that this wasn't the first time whoever-it-was had called either. Shinichi was enraged at the thought.

_Okay, who would do something like this? Wait, scratch that, who_ could _do something like this? It's not exactly easy to pull off a perfect imitation of someone's voice like that. Especially considering that he wasn't on TV so much as in the newspapers, and TVs didn't have sound. They'd have to know my voice, and they'd have to have the technology to follow through._

The first person that came to Shinichi's mind was Kuroba, but the magician looked just as startled and confused as he felt. Not to mention that he didn't have any sort of mike to talk into or anything, so that ruled him out.

There was always his mom, but Shinichi was hoping she wouldn't sink that low. Not that she hadn't done similar things before. . . and his okaasan definitely knew how to dress up as him and imitate him, as Hattori could testify.

Which she should. After all, she was his mom. What kind of mom didn't know that stuff about their kids?

The list was getting short, because since Shinichi doubted Haibara or Agasa-hakase would pull something like that, which left the absolute _worst_ person that could ever be involved.

Well, maybe not the worst person. The absolute worst person would be Gin, and if that happened. . . Shinichi didn't know what he'd do. Possibly confess to Ran and have her and her dad go into the Witness Protection Program with the help of Jodie-sensei, but Shinichi didn't want to think about that possibility.

It wasn't Gin on the phone, and Shinichi knew that. But the only person left on his list was almost as bad, and the only reason she wasn't even worse was that she didn't hurt Ran. Ever. Otherwise all of them would currently be very dead.

The last person on Shinichi's list was Vermouth. That was the absolute worst-case scenario, especially since she was the only person on his list who'd ever done something that bad. Well, something _really_bad, Kuroba was technically an international criminal as well. But his first rule was "No one gets hurt". She'd murdered and impersonated people, led the FBI on a wild chase after identities that didn't even exist, and, he'd heard, hadn't aged at all in the past twenty-three years.

The only redeeming quality the actress had was that she hadn't hurt him or Ran, and she wasn't going to hurt anyone either of them would die to protect. Like Ran had for Haibara. He had gotten the explanation out of Haibara eventually, after all, it had made no sense that she was still alive.

Or at least, it seemed that she wasn't going to hurt them.

If he was right about that, then she might be a semi-respectable person if she weren't in the Organization. People like Gin would've just shot them if they'd saved his life, but Vermouth knew what she owed, it would seem.

A life for a life. They'd saved her even when she'd drawn a gun on them, and she wouldn't kill the now. A protection for a protection, a save for a save.

Well, that was Shinichi's guess. Really, that woman was far too bizarre for anyone to really have a legitimate grasp of what went on in her head.

Shinichi hoped he was right though. If he was wrong, they would all die very soon.

The problem was, however, that despite all that thinking. . . Shinichi still had _absolutely_ no idea who had called as him. And that little problem was making him very angry.

"I swear, if that goddamn impersonator calls again, I'm going to have the police trace the call so I can go beat him up!" Ran shouted all of a sudden, leaving Shinichi flabbergasted.

What. The. Hell. How in the world did Ran know that it wasn't really him on the phone?

A quick glance around confirmed that none of the others had caught something he'd missed. No Shinichi just had to figure out if that was good or bad.

"I'll help you too," Kazuha-chan said, determination ringing in her tone.

Shinichi was a detective. Detectives, as a rule, liked knowing how things worked. They liked reasonable, logical explanations.

So, inevitably, Shinichi wanted to know exactly what the _heck_ was going on.

--------------

_That damn impersonator can just go to hell! How _dare_he impersonate Shinichi,_the girl thought. Then again, she wasn't exactly happy with Shinichi either, as the. . . incident at the restaurant could testify.

She knew she'd seen Conan-kun duck outside.

_Stupid fake—Hate him—or her—hate them both—hate all those idiots—_

_Damn secretive idiots—Didn't they ever think?_

_Ever guess? Ever know?_

_They're smart—Know they are—I know—know they are—stupid idiots—not fair_

_Meanies—why? Why didn't they do something?_

_What's wrong? Why not?—Was it—not me—surely not me—right?_

_Couldn't be my fault—but maybe it was—why? Why all them?—Why?—them, not me. Why?_

_Trust—he doesn't—why not—what's wrong? Was it me? What? Why?_

_Not—not what? Worthy? Competent? Smart?_

_Just __**not**__—I know it—it's not even anything—it's just not!_

_Not enough—not trustworthy. Why? Why not?_

_Not—I'm not—I'm just not._

_That's all—seen—why?_

_Why—not fair—they can't see—see what?_

_But it's not—it's not what they see. It's what—what not—don't see—see it—don't— they don't see._

_Why? Why—why don't they. . .?_

_Why don't they see—see _me_? Why not?_

_See me as—as what? Trustworthy? Friendly? Loyal? Secretive? Competent? Smart? Good at lying?_

_I am—I am—I want to be—if nothing else—try_

_Won't let me—not even a chance—never got a chance—could never try_

_Why? Why wouldn't they—Why wouldn't _he_?_

_Why wouldn't he let me try?_

_I want to—really really—want to—more than anything_

_Want to be trusted, want to be helpful_

_Want to try_

_What am I to him, that he'd do this? He doesn't even trust me. Or else he thinks I'm some doll that needs to be protected._

_From what though? Protected—why? From what?_

_Secrets—maybe—promises—empty ones—the world—hurt?_

_He doesn't trust me at all._

_He doesn't even seem to care sometimes._

_He doesn't love me. Not the way I love him._

_I don't think he ever will. And it hurts. It hurts so _much.

_To know that he's hurting—that he hates me—that he's small—suffering—and won't even let me in. Won't even let me help._

_Why? Why Shinichi? Why did you do this?_

_It's almost as bad—hurts almost as much—as—as—__**then**__._

_As that time—that time—all those times—when you nearly—nearly—nearly DIED!_

_Why Shinichi? Don't—no—not now—no—don't Shinichi—please don't—Conan-kun—not you either—no—neither of you—don't—don't leave—don't hurt more—hurt others—hurt me—don't risk it—please—onegai—onegai don't—just please, please—don't—you can't—just no—you can't—you can't—it'll hurt—it did hurt—wet—tears—cry—tired—white—no—please no—it hurt—Shinichi, it HURTS!_

_Shinichi—Conan-kun—whoever—both—both of you—you can't just can't you can't no matter what you can't—please—you can't—onegai, onegai, don't die! Friend—Brother—Boyfriend—neither—neither of you—none of you—you can't—you won't—please tell me you won't—please—you can't—neither of you—none of you four—you five—not one of you—can—don't—don't die! Please don't die!_

_It hurts—it hurts—so bad—the pain—a hole—it's like—like a hole—a big gaping hole—you can't—we worry._

_Worry tears anxiety wet hurt wet fabric, you can't, it hurt! Why? Why are you doing this Why are you making me hurt?_

_Like a hole, an abyss, fear, scared—scared for you, both of you—all of you! _

_Sad, so sad, it hurts so much—why?_

_Why do you let it hurt? Why Shinichi, why Conan-kun? Why don't you trust me? Why did you almost die? Over and over again? Why do you almost die?_

_Please don't die—it's scary when you—when you—when you—almost die! Don't die! It hurts, just thinking about it, it hurts. I'm crying, aren't I? Am I? I can't tell? I don't feel alive, I can't tell. It hurts too much to tell._

_Shinichi! Conan-kun! It HURTS! Shinichi! Conan-kun! DON'T DIE! Please! Onegai! Onegai! Please don't!_

_Don't either of you DARE DIE! DON'T DIE!_

Ran found she had collapsed again as she came back into the world. Her face was drenched and she was curled up on the sofa. She was shivering and crying. The others around her looked concerned, and Ran knew why.

The reason she had come to, rather than staying as a trembling, miserable, sobbing mass, dead to the world and completely oblivious, had probably caused that.

Much like when someone is woken from a nightmare by the sound of their own scream, Ran had yelled at least the last two lines aloud.

Or at least, she thought she had. Ran hadn't even been aware enough to remember that she had a _body_ at the time, much less now remember how much she'd said aloud.

Some of it had possibly been muttered too, in a voice shaky from trembling and hyperventilation that still hadn't gone away.

But Ran knew that she'd definitely screamed those last two lines at least. If only because her mouth was still slightly open, and her vocal cords slightly sore from screaming them. Her body remembered, even if her mind didn't.

"Oh Ran-chan, you're awake! Thank goodness!" said a very relieved Kazuha-chan, coming up to wrap her in a sisterly embrace.

Ran was thankful for Kazuha-chan, oh so thankful. She'd been venting to Kazuha-chan, sharing her secrets, her worries, things others would've deemed her insane for.

Ran knew that if it weren't for Kazuha-chan, she probably would've lost her sanity months ago.

She might even still be fooled by Shinichi's attempts to trick her into believing that he _wasn't_Conan-kun.

Which was stupid really. Ran was ashamed she'd ever fallen for it. Then again, who could really blame her? Even if her claims hadn't contradicted the laws of physics, why would her best friend have lied to her and hidden from and hurt her like that?

Ran still didn't know. She wanted to find out though. Or at least, she _thought_ she did. Whoever said that "The truth hurts" wasn't kidding.

Knowing your best friend who you loved was lying to you, that he _knew_ you were hurting inside and did little to alleviate it, wasn't something that made anyone happy.

Ran had been sad about it for a long time. She didn't think anyone had really noticed up until the heist two days ago. Or yesterday morning, actually, when the full implications of what she'd heard had sunk in.

He'd nearly been shot. He'd nearly died again. And so had the others with him, Kaitou Kid and Hakuba-kun. Then thought made her want to sink into the. . . what would one call that oblivious state she'd been in before? Whatever it was, for all it had hurt more, it had been a lot less painful. She hadn't had to deal with the world.

Up until now, most of the boys had been looking at her with relieved shock. Conan-kun just stared dumbstruck, and so Ran decided she'd start the conversation before he could find some way to try and fool her, to try and hurt her even more.

Turning to him, Ran used one of her still-trembling hands to wipe her face a little, not that it helped much. As if her face wasn't wet enough, tears were still leaking out of her eyes.

With a peaceful, melancholy expression on her face, Ran turned to Conan-kun and used her other hand to lift up his chin gently so that he looked directly into her eyes. "Shinichi, don't you ever do that again. Don't ever almost get yourself killed again, like you did the other night. Do you hear me Shinichi?"

Ran was relieved in an odd way. She didn't have to fight anymore, didn't have to keep it a secret that she knew the truth.

Shinichi, apparently, was not, because he looked shocked and bewildered as he stuttered "Ran. . . what?"

"I know you Shinichi. I know it's you. I know you've been pretending to be Conan-kun for almost a year now, and I'm pretty darn sure that everyone in this room knows it. I know you. I've known you for years."

"But. . . how did you know? I thought I hid the truth. . ." Conan-kun, no _Shinichi _said, making her want to laugh in hysterics. Ran felt like she was teetering on a knifepoint, and if she fell, she'd be insane.

It was hard. So unimaginably hard, to have a best friend lying to you, trapped in the body of a child, and realize you bought his lies for months and months. Admittedly, they were very good tricks, very good lies. Tricks and lies worthy of Shinichi, the Detective of the East. She just knew him too well, and the notion, the belief that he really was Shinichi had always come back.

And then, about a month ago, with Kazuha-chan's help, she'd proven it to herself, once and for all.

That pain had been one of the worst, finding out he'd lied to her like that. To hide her misery from him and her father, Ran had slept over at Kazuha-chan's, not coming home for three days. But when he called later, she couldn't bring herself to be mad. Maybe it was because that somehow, though he sounded happy, Ran thought that he felt sad. Maybe she just loved him, both as a best friend and a lover, too much.

Either way, it didn't make much of a difference. That was just the way things had worked out. She'd accepted it without being _too_ mad. And he didn't know. As long as he didn't know she even suspected, things wouldn't get too much worse. That was good in Ran's opinion.

Looking over her shoulder, Ran said to Kazuha-chan, "Can you go get the list? I hid it on top of my calculus notes, inside the book."

A moment later, Kazuha-chan came back, holding three sheets of notebook paper. She gave it to Ran, who handed it to Shinichi.

"Fifty-seven reasons. Fifty-seven reasons I suspected you were Shinichi. Kazuha-chan thought I should write them down. I'm glad I did. I was driving myself insane."

Hattori muttered something along the lines of, "Wow, that was thorough." They ignored him. Kuroba-kun and Hakuba-kun kept quiet, presumably realizing how important this moment was to her and Shinichi.

Shinichi looked ashamed and astounded. But that wasn't all. He also looked happy, relieved, proud, and slightly sad.

"I thought I kept you safe. As long as you didn't know, they wouldn't hurt you. You'd be safe. . ." Shinichi said quietly, but Ran barely acknowledged it. Instead, she stepped over and swept him into a big, loving hug.

"Well I know. So please don't hide. I love you Shinichi, okay? I love you, and I want to help you. And I'm sorry you think you can't trust me, or that I'm not good enough, or that I'm a fragile little doll, or I can't help, but please, please, just let me try. I want to try, I want to try really hard. I'm not useless or whatever, I can help. So please give me a chance. Please." The tears came flowing fresh and faster at the admittance of her fears, her sorrows. Things she never wanted to think, but couldn't help being afraid were true.

"What?" Shinichi was shocked. Did that mean that maybe she was wrong? That it wasn't for those reasons, that he did care a lot, that maybe he even loved her back. Should Ran jump to that conclusion? Should she dare to think that? "Don't think that. How could you ever think that?" He was mad now. Whether at himself, or what, Ran didn't know.

"Don't think that. I was trying to protect you. _They_don't leave loose ends, and I didn't want you hurt. I wouldn't be able to stand it if they hurt you or if they killed you." Shinichi was almost crying now. The only thing that was holding him back was the others in the room. Ran had learned to read her best friend over the years. Really well.

"I'm sorry Ran."

Ran glanced down at the top of his head, embracing him tighter. She then stood up, walked into her room, and closed the door behind her so they could have some privacy.

"I forgive you Shinichi. Just tell me everything. Please don't hide the truth anymore. I'm tough enough to bear it, but just don't lie anymore. Please."

And so he did. Shinichi told her everything—Ran knew that. He told her more than he'd ever told the others, more than he'd told Haibara or Hattori, or even Agasa-hakase. Everything. By the time he was done, over an hour had passed. The noise of idle chatter and bickering had been coming in on and off from the other room.

"I love you to Ran," Shinichi said. He looked decidedly sad. Then Ran saw the flash of intuition in his eyes, like when he'd just figured out a mystery. When he knew something no one else did, and he'd figured it out, and the pieces had just clicked into place. He'd thought of something, and Ran was curious and eager to find out what. She'd been about to ask a few questions, like how he'd appeared at her play, or what had happened with the case where he'd been impersonated when he'd gotten the idea. And then Shinichi acted on his idea, speaking up as he jumped off the bed.

"Get ready to go out, okay? I'll meet you outside in twenty minutes, I promise. I'll be right back, I just gotta go do something," Shinichi said before he darted out of the room and across the house, grabbing his skateboard on the way out.

He'd told her about the gadgets too, and Ran wasn't exactly sure she was grateful for what he'd done with her dad, establishing him as the Sleeping Detective. But the crimes had needed to be solved, and what was done was done. Besides, he'd let tousan stay awake the times it had been personal, the times he'd really needed to solve it himself. And others beside that.

Ran decided she'd think about it later, after she was ready. For now, she was just trying to decide what Shinichi would be doing and where he was going to take her.

----------------

"Yes Kudo-kun? Do you want something?" Haibara asked from her chair, not looking up from her work, not even slowing in her typing.

"Um, yeah. You remember how you were talking about that new prototype temporary cure a few days ago, and how it would last a whole twelve hours even though it was incomplete because I haven't ever used it before? And since you said that once the other elements were added, all immunity would be irrelevant, it wouldn't matter if I used it right now. So, can I have one?

Haibara turned to stare at him flatly as she said, "No. Absolutely not."

"Come on Haibara, it's important!"

An eyebrow raised. "Oh, and why's that?"

Shinichi realized he'd just backed himself into a proverbial corner. He hadn't really wanted to explain this to Haibara, not yet, not after the stunt she'd pulled in the hospital. And the other times. She didn't think Ran should know, and in the Shinichi's opinion, telling the chemist why he needed one wasn't the best way to get what he wanted.

"Well, eto, there's something I really need to do. And it's private."

"Why should I give it to you? Besides, what if something went wrong? The formula isn't complete yet, though I think it'll work as is. But you're even more likely to die."

"It'll give you a chance to observe the transformation," Shinichi said, dangling the carrot in front of her. Shinichi knew she needed to observe the transformation at some point, and doing it now would be perfect.

"Give me one good reason why I should." Haibara wasn't going to change her mind anytime soon. This was his only chance to convince her, and Shinichi knew that he had to have a good reason. A really good one.

So he played his last resort, and went with a carefully constructed half-truth. He knew it probably wouldn't work, but he'd had to try. "It's for Ran. She's been really depressed lately, and I want to help her. Talking to someone on the phone isn't the same as being there in person. Not to mention some other stuff that I have to do. Please Haibara."

Haibara paused for a minutes, thinking before she finally replied, "Fine. You can have one, but only if I get to observe the transformation." The chemist turned around and reached over across the worktable to a set of vials near the back. Picking one and popping off the lid, she handed him a single red and white pill. An antidote. His ticket to being a teenager again, however briefly. The temporary cure.

Shinichi was surprised she'd given in so quickly and easily, but tried to avoid making that obvious. Instead, he eagerly grabbed the pill and accepted the glass of water Haibara had handed him, swallowing the pill and then gulping down the whole glass to wash it down.

The effect was immediate, just like Haibara had warned when she told him about the development of this new drug. He felt tired and slightly nauseous, but most of all, he felt hot. He was burning up, as if he had a fever.

Haibara took this opportunity to use one of those ear thermometers to take his temperature. Shinichi barely noticed her recording it, his head feeling as if it was on fire. Shinichi thought his temperature was probably over an hundred five, but he was too hot to be coherent.

Then came the pain.

Like he was on fire, all his insides burning and melting down. His cells getting ready to expand, becoming more flexible, lighting all the nearby nerves on fire.

He began growing, and could practically feel every cell in his body that was produced, or being expanded grating against nerves that hadn't had a chance to grow out of the way, as they would do by the end. Shinichi screamed. It was excruciating. As if he was being eviscerated all over his body.

Pain, like it would never end, though he knew it would. His bones getting bigger, everything was getting bigger, and it was hot, so hot, and it hurt. It hurt because it was hot, and it hurt because his bones and muscles and veins and arteries and everything else were growing up against his nerves, pushing them out of the way. His nerves were growing as well, which was also agonizing. His nerves always grew slowest, and that made it hurt even worse.

Shinichi's scream got louder for the climax of the pain, and then it began to fade. The pain went away as his nerves grew into place, the last part of his body to make the transformation back to a teen. The pain dimmed to being tolerable, and then faded entirely.

Shinichi looked up to see Haibara standing over him, calmly assessing his situation as if he were a lab rat. Shinichi glared, but didn't waste his time on her. He wanted to get to Ran.

It was a shame that his skateboard couldn't carry him when he was a teenager. Now he'd have to run to make it back.

-----------------

As Ai sat in her lab, part of her had to wonder why she'd done that. Why she'd caved in and given Kudo-kun the cure so easily.

It was a stupid question. The chemist already knew the answer.

It was true that she had a crush on Kudo-kun, and it was true that he loved Ran. Ai knew that, and she accepted it. She wasn't even bitter, if only because she understood perfectly.

She was just someone who'd come in later, while they'd had years of history between them. She was the one who'd destroyed his life, trapping him in the body of a child.

If one thought about it, it was also thanks to her that he was still alive. If she hadn't changed the drug's data, Gin might've pulled out a different poison entirely. One that would've done what it was supposed to, and killed him.

But no one ever thought about it like that. Most of the time that included Ai herself.

Yes, she liked Kudo-kun. A lot. That wasn't the main reason she'd given him the temporary cure however, though it was part of it.

The reason for that was very different. She owed Mouri Ran.

Ai owed the girl who'd saved her life from Vermouth, shielding her with her own body. Knowing she'd die, that it might not even work, Mouri-chan jumped on top of her anyway.

It was because of that that Ai was still alive. She didn't know exactly what'd happened, but from what she'd managed to squeeze out of Kudo-kun, the Black Operative had a guilt/debt complex towards those she owed her life.

Mouri-chan and Kudo-kun had done something to save Vermouth. From the sound of it, even as she'd been about to kill them.

Ai didn't know the details, but they didn't matter. Mouri-can had protected her, and now she was safe—for a little while, from Vermouth at least.

Even though the whole reason Ai had gone there in the first place was to die, and save the others in the process, she was still thankful. She couldn't help it really. Somewhere in the back of their mind, if not more than that, all humans feared death. For all she'd done, Haibara Ai, previously Miyano Shiho, was still a human being.

There was more to it though. Despite the fact that she didn't know her very well, Mouri-chan still cared about the false-child she'd become.

That caring was a type of love that Ai felt she didn't deserve. She was a murderer and one who'd created fatal poisons, knowing full well what use they'd be put to. Even reformed, it was something she didn't deserve.

But Mouri-chan gave it anyway, It was the kind of love that a sister might show her imouto-chan. The kind of love that she'd previously only felt on those rare, short visits with her sister that had been permitted.

AI missed her sister. She missed Akemi-oneesan a lot. However, if there was one thing her life had taught her, it was that sometimes you had to just accept what had happen, and mourn while still walking forward. Then, eventually, you had to move on.

It was so nice though, to have that feeling back.

Ai loved Ran like an older sister, just as she had loved Akemi.

Ai thought that Akemi-oneesan would be happy to know that she wasn't dwelling on her death. That she was free, and while she missed her, the younger sister was getting on with her life.

She thought Akemi-oneesan would be happy that she'd found people who loved her and cared for her. A grandfather figure. A surrogate older sister.

While it the thought struck Ai sometimes, she knew it wasn't true. She wasn't in any way replacing Akemi-oneesan, and she craved that love, that caring that siblings had for each other.

Ai thought her oneesan would be happy for her, and had, over time, come to think of Ran as another oneesan. They both loved her as a sister, and she loved them back.

_For you, Akemi-oneechan. For you, Ran-oneechan. Arigato, kimi-tatchi._

---------------

When Shinichi left, Ran had almost thought that he wouldn't come back again, even though he'd said he would. He'd left without a word so many times before, both as Conan and as Shinichi. Sometimes she got an "I'll be right back", but that was it. He wasn't always right back.

But Ran decided to believe in him anyways, so she waited. Not believing Shinichi would keep his word would be an insult if he did. Besides, it hurt not to allow herself to trust him. Even if he didn't come back. It hurt less this way.

Three minutes after Ran had come outside (she'd taken awhile to make herself presentable) a figure came jogging up to her.

What Ran saw shocked her.

Quickly jogging up to her was Shinichi. Not the seven year old Shinichi who'd left, but _Shinichi_Shinichi. The teenage detective whose return she'd awaited for months. Her childhood friend, this time looking once more as if he'd been alive long enough to hold that title.

It was Shinichi as he really was. As he was supposed to be. It was also the last thing Ran had expected.

"Shi-Shinichi," Ran stuttered as he approached. "Is it really you? How did you get back to normal? I thought you said you were stuck."

Shinichi had the grace to look sheepish. "Well, remember that scientist I told you about, Haibara Ai? The one who created the Apotoxin and is trying to find a cure?" Ran nodded. "While she was searching for the cure, she came across a couple formulas for temporary antidotes. They're not permanent, but they work for twenty-four hours or so. At least at first, then I start to develop immunity to them. So that's what this is."

How badly Ran wanted to believe him, how much she thought she couldn't. But Ran didn't bother to ask him for proof. She didn't _have_to. As much as the brunette felt as if she was growing further from Shinichi sometimes, his explanation had made her realize differently. She knew him again now, and nothing had changed.

They were best friends. They liked each other, but hadn't told each other. Shinichi loved cases, she loved karate. She could read him better than anyone else. He could read her better than anyone else.

No, nothing had changed.

And Ran saw in Shinichi's eyes that he was telling the truth.

The only thing that had changed was that the two of them had realized that they loved each other.

"Okay," Ran said, simply accepting it. She then proceeded to throw her arms around him in a giant hug. A giant welcome home, even if he'd really always been there. Even if they only had a day, it didn't matter. The truth was out, and now they were home.

After all, home was the people more than the place.

After a half a second of surprise, Shinichi returned the hug. Neither of them noticed their friends looking out from the window, reactions divided between commenting that it was about time, and surprise that Shinichi was able to do that.

Even if the two had noticed, they wouldn't have cared.

"Ran, do you want to go out with me?"

Ran looked up in surprise without breaking the hug. "Out as in on a date."

Shinichi sounded embarrassed to her, and though she couldn't see his face, Ran thought that he was probably blushing over her shoulder. "Um, yeah."

Ran smiled and replied, "I'd love to Shinichi."

* * *

Translations:

_arigato kimi-tatchi - _thanks you guys (I thought Japanese seemed appropriate for that sentence. *shrugs*)

_oneesan/oneechan - _older sister

_imouto-chan - _little sister

_gomen - _sorry

_onegai _- please

That's all the translations. . . so yeah.

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